Sophomore - Bonita High School: Fill & Download for Free

I remember when I was in school there was a saying that went something like this:When you are a freshman, you know you don’t know anything.When you are a sophomore, you think you might know a few things.When you are a junior, you think you know everything.And when you are a senior, you realize you don’t know much.I think this saying demonstrates how knowledge acquisition comes in layers. You learn a layer of something and you start to feel pretty darn good about that layer. Then you find out it is only a layer and there is much more to learn. I think learning is like that. It has the ability to keep us humble because we learn something really well and then learn there is more depth to the thing than we realized and it is like being a beginner again.If that is happening to you, one way to gain confidence in the learning that you have acquired so far is to tutor someone who is just starting out in an earlier layer. That helps us to see that though we may have a long way to go, we have also come a long way.Another thing that might be happening to you is a thing called “imposter syndrome.” I am no expert in this area, although I have suffered from it from time to time. I believe it is best described as a feeling where you believe other people have high expectations of your abilities or expertise and it feels like they do not really understand how incompetent you are; like you have somehow hidden this incompetence from everyone. I have had this feeling intensely from time to time and then it seems to go away.

first, you’re probably talking about public colleges and universities in california. that includes both the CSU and the UC campuses. the UC campuses are the elite public universities in claifornia and the CSU campuses are the former state teachers’ colleges, like san diego state univerity and long beach state, chico state, etc. the tuition at the uc campuses which were free when they were first built are now quite expensive, but still still half the costs of private elite colleges like stanford university and caltech.both the uc and CSU campuses get hundreds of thousands of applications, so the idea that anyone is “looking at” certain grades as you suggest is midleading. in the vast majority of the cases, the final decisions are made using a simple formula using the overall gpa from 9–12 grades and the SAT or ACT scores. the two total scores are weighed equally in most cases, which means that a single three-hour national exam counts as much as almost four years of classroom grades. that forumla is almost as absurd as it seems, and , finally, some CA universities are considering dropping the national exams which are rife with inequities and unproven or misleading claims. most deadlines for applying occur in after the first semester in the senior year which means that second semester grades are not “looked at” unless you send an updated request for consideration.the colleges and universities understand that these procedures are subject to error and computational mistakes but the numbers of applicants have so far offered no immediate solution that is much better. eliminating the national exams is a good idea because they add nothing of value in measuring achievement. class rank based on overall gpa is better, but still not conclusive because every research study on student cheating in school, if even marginally accurate, would nullify every gpa as “suspect.” additionally, using class rank also assumes all individual schools are essentially equal in value. although also suspect, much of the suspicion has come from phony measures of measurement like state standards exams, etc. it seem counterintuitive to suggest that differences among schools are not at all what they seem, but that may well be the case.there are exams that are better than others. criterion-referenced exams are much better than the “normed” exams we usually see that were designed exclusively for ranking. for instance, the algebra state standards exams seems to be a legit criterion-referenced exam. my evidence comes from a study of statewide scores. a normed exam will always give a predictable ranking according to family income, but a criterion-refernced test will only test whether kids actually learned what they were supposed to learn regardless of family income. this doesn’t happen that often, but in my district where i had worked for 33 years i saw a result never seen in other state exams. the algebra scores at national city middle school tied the scores at bonita middle for top scores. bonita has the highest family income but national city middle has the lowest family income in all of san diego county. only a truly criterion-referenced exam could have allowed that to happen. bonita is considerd a “good” school and tends to attract better teachers (by a much smaller margin than is commonly assumed). BOTH NCM and BVM had good algebra teachers. both had the same number of students taking the algebra exam (also unusual for a low-income school). i think they knew they had a good teacher. other low-come schools in the district had only a half or a third of the numbers at NCM taking algebra.i was “looking for escalante’s”—that marvelous calculus teacher jaime escalante who became famous as “the best teacher in america.” that fame is deserved, but probably not the title as best. another teacher of calculus at garfield high matched escalante’s numbers of passing students usually a much more conventional approach. however, escalante had “proven” that poor kids could be smart kids if properly taught. so, i regularly scanned the entire state records looking for other “escalantes,” and i knew howe to find them. you look for “anomalous” successes, like those at NCM and the calculus teacher i found at mar vista, another low-come school in my district. she didn’t have quite escalante’s numbers but they were close enough to show something unusual was happening there. btw way the good algebra teacher at NCM was mexican, teaching classes that were mostly hispanic and filipino students.i tried my best to duplicate what escalante had done, but the ap english language exam was much more “rigged” than some other ap exams. the formula for passing the ap language exam included a one-hour m-c reading exam on an exam to test essay writing that counted an incredible 45% of the passing score. i knew the odds were against us since i’d been an SAT prep coach. i had raised SAT scores 200 points but 150 of those points were from the math sections and only 50 from the verbal sections. i was an english teacher, who was good at math. on every exam my students took in the 11 years i taught the ap language exams my student scored at or above the national average and i usually had over 100 kids taking the exams which tends to reduce your pass-rate percentage (but does usually end up with more kids passing overall). without the m-c exam, i might have had a pass-rate nearer 50–60% but their “success” at learning to write that absurdly narrowed kind of specialized rhetorical essay was obscured my the most unfairly designed pass-rate formula i’d ever seen in a national exam.now, with that long backstory, my recommendation for a series of criterion-referenced test scores in both reading and math to set a cut-off mark for admissions in addition to class rank, where the pool is narrowed more fairly and students are chosen from that “qualifying” mark by lottery. my contention is that the lottery will be a blind choice among essentially equal candidates. both the reading exam and the math exam should have the approval of FairTest, a group that evaluates national test scores. we are wasting vast untapped resources of low-income students whose scores are being systematically buried in the biases of “normed” exams.

I’ll give you my personal experience (growing up in Uganda, 1960s, ’70s and ‘80s). I first posted this on an online publication in 2016:AN INTERESTING DECADE!The years 1975 to 1985 were an interesting and most eventful decade, in Uganda. Notably, we had six different governments (or at least six different heads of government), in a period of just ten years. While this article will not delve into politics, it recognizes of the influence of politics on the cultural, economic and social life of Ugandans, in that time.1975 was a year with big promises. Towards the end of 1974, while addressing staff of UTV (Uganda Television) at their Nakasero Offices (the area now occupied by the AYA/Hilton Hotel), President Amin confidently assured his listeners that by July the following year, the time the OAU (Organization of African Unity) heads of States’ Summit would be held in Kampala, Uganda would have colour television! For most people born in the 1980s and after, this sounds so mundane, but when you consider that in the mid 1970s, no African country (not even South Africa) had colour television except, somewhat surprisingly, Zanzibar, Amin’s statement was indeed bold, to say the least. UTV people couldn’t laugh nor snigger – not with Idi Amin Dada, standing right in front of them! The most they could do was look at each with blank faces.With the help of money from his Arab friends and German television engineers, Amin did fulfill his promise and in July 1975, Uganda became the second African country to have colour television!The OAU Summit was held in Kampala, in mid 1975, Idi Amin became “current Chairman” and all visiting heads of State (40-plus) were housed at the Nile Hotel (now Serena). In his speech, Amin gushed that he was born at the very spot where the conference hall now stands, topped up the “comedy” with a second marriage to Sarah Kyolaba, “due to public demand” and had Yasser Arafat (a guest of the OAU) as his Bestman!Insert photo of Amin wedding (with Arafat)Colour TV was a big feat and the few who had colour TV sets experienced total transformation of TV viewing. At school (Kitante Primary) the few kids whose parents owned colour sets, would tell us how dark or fair-skinned this or that TV presenter was, what colour this or that flashy car was, etc. However, because most of UTV’s library was old (1950s & 1960s) American & British films, TV dramas and documentaries, most programs remained Black & White.TV in the 1970s also reminds one of a unique, but now when we recall, a very funny feature. The economy had deteriorated very badly. Our factories were at minimum or nil production and imports were rock bottom. Purchasing power was therefore very low, so the few companies or individuals who produced or imported products, saw no need to advertise. Our one TV station, open for just 5 hours of the day (6pm to 11pm) did not run any adverts! A funny result was that when American programs would run, they would be set to break after 15 or 20 minutes to allow for adverts (Commercials). So, in the middle of the program, there would be this break and a big notice on the screen saying “PLACE COMMERCIAL HERE”! It took me quite a while to understand what that meant. At the tender age of 11-12, the word “commercial” was not yet in my vocabulary - couldn’t be, because I’d never seen any commercials on TV, anyway.The shortfalls of our TV service aside, Uganda’s broadcasting institution (radio & TV) had quite an interesting and often inspiring cast of people. George Johnson Kibajo (Radio Uganda & UTV) read the news with a refreshing near-British accent and so did his namesake George Bisoborwa. Robbie Wod Omal & David Byabazaire gave English news reading a younger, more vibrant touch. There were colourful “program announcers” like Shami Kenkwanzi and former Ms. Uganda, Charlotte Ssali. Christopher Ddamulira a.k.a Ddamulira Kristoofa (Radio Uganda & UTV) read the Luganda news with that colourful aura that seems to have inspired today’s Wamala Balunabba (CBS Radio), et al. Ddamulira’s style contrasted with Danny Kyazze (Radio Uganda & UTV), who came across as rather stern, but still captivating.In an effort to appease Amin’s friends, here and abroad, we had news in English, Luganda, Swahili, French and Arabic! It was quite taxing for the impatience of young and other fun-seeking viewers to have to sit through the entire string of news casts, before something lighter came on. I remember consoling my younger brother that the French news “Les Information” meant “less information”, so it would be over soon!UTV programs in the late 1970s always ended with prayers by Anglican, Catholic & Muslim religious leaders. They alternated and were also read (alternately) in local languages. Prayers in the mass media are nothing new and go on, even today, but a unique (almost comical) side of the UTV prayers was a self-serving call to belligerence “Oh God, help us defeat our enemies, even if they may be Ugandans…” Yes, you read right! Obviously, that text was written and insisted on by someone in high places.”The entertainment side of UTV had talented people like Jimmy Dean (host of various arts & society programs), talent show hosts James Bwogi & Frank Muleera (current Monitor columnist, Muniini Muleera), the motor-mouth sports presenter Mike Ssali Ssebalu, David Musoke (host of various discussion programs including “Brains Trust”) and Wanzama Piro (host of the Q&A quiz program, “Who, What & Where”). By far, the biggest entertainer was Dan Zirimmenya, a.k.a Kyeswa, who appeared in various dramas. They were mainly comedies, but with subtle social commentary (marriage, relationships, the harsh economic reality, etc). The most popular dramas (sitcoms of the time) were “Lwaki Baavu”, “Lozio Bba Cecilia”, “Obwaavu Musolo” and major theatre plays like “Oluyimba Lwa Wankoko” and “Amakula Ga Kulabako”.As nearby schools – Kitante, Nakasero & Norman Godhino – we got invited to a lot of children’s programs and got to personally meet all these TV stars. It was quite exciting getting to talk to them and noting that they were very much like they were on the screen, as in private!By 1975, the economy was on a downward slide. “Essential commodities” (as was the term, back then – sugar, salt, cooking oil, soap, bread, butter/margarine, milk, etc) defied the term “essential” and became luxuries! There was the “Foods & Beverages” parastatal that indeed stocked most of these items (along with the odd macaroni, cheese and even chocolate) but purchase was by selection or rather, “allocation”. Not everyone was permitted to buy. You had to have a chit from someone “upstairs” to get those rare goodies.Somehow, sweets were still available in shops, so people would buy, pound them into pulp and pour into their tea. The taste was a cross between cough syrup and dilute honey, but still a better option than sugar-less tea (what Banyoro/Batooro call “ekikanga barwaire” (literally – shocks the sick). Some people would slice sugarcane into small chips (much like today’s street vendors do), pour them into saucepans of water, pour tea or coffee over it, boil it and that was 1970s African tea for you! I enjoyed a cup a few times…Wasn’t bad…The lack of basic consumer items, somehow, did not badly affect social life. In Kampala and upcountry, people still held birthday parties, weddings, etc. Party organizers would endeavor to provide at least soft drinks (the most common soft drinks were Masaba & Schweppes, that had a similar taste, in bottles a little smaller than today’s soda bottle – about 250 ml). A few upscale parties had beers, mostly in bottles known as “Civic” – a greenish/bluish bottle about 350 ml. In the absence of decorations, some used tissue paper to spread around the halls. There was certainly no Champaign, so a soda bottle had to be shaken well, at that “special” moment.The nickname “Civic” came from the motor vehicle – Honda Civic. Along with Honda Accord, these two cars were both status symbols and fashion statements. Many car owners still drove European cars – Benz, Fiat, BMW, Ford, etc, but this new group of “Mafuta Mingi” had come along and was now stamping their presence on society.It wasn’t only the Mafuta Mingi (new rich) who drove the shiny Honda cars. The government tried to appease new young professionals – doctors, lawyers, varsity dons, etc, with various goodies – rent-free houses, grocery allocations and yes, even cars. Many professionals drove Honda Accord & Civic.In the late 1970s (beginning around 1977), because of the Brazilian coffee frost, world coffee prices sky-rocketed. Coffee was now selling at about $4,000 per ton. As Africa’s biggest exporter, Uganda experienced a boom of sorts. Shops began to fill up with essentials again, coffee traders both legal (The Government’s Coffee Marketing Board) and illegal (smugglers) made big sales. Smugglers sold mainly via porous border areas of Eastern Uganda. Because they needed to be as stealthy as possible, they usually moved through bushes, on foot or on bicycles, as they carried their precious Kasé (local term for husked coffee beans). Stories were plenty about how smugglers reveled in their now-found wealth – washing their bikes with crates of beer, lighting up charcoal stoves with money notes, etc.The people with some extra, disposable cash were wary of exposing themselves – especially to State agents and other people they feared as threats to their wealth. While some bold people still frequented bars and ordered everything they intended to drink in one go, for fear of stocks running out (thus the term “Okuddugaz’emmeeza” (darkening the table), others opted to drink in private homes, converted unofficially to bars. The beer would be stacked under beds, on which patrons would sit as they drank and gossiped. It would not be easy for an intruder or any other uninvited person to know that this was a bar, not a private party. This drinking culture became known as “Ogw’ebitanda” (beer under beds), or simply “Bitanda”. Because the environment was usually cramped, the Bitanda trend later led to “Obufunda” (drinking in small crowded shops that served as grocery stores during the day and bars, at night).Life in the rural areas was a lot more different from urban life, than it is, today. While today about 85% rural Uganda does not have electricity, in the 1970s, I’d say about 95% of rural Ugandans went by with paraffin lamps, wax candles and of course, fire wood cooking. During my school holidays in Masindi, it was easy to notice the stark differences in the well-being of Kampala dwellers (clothing, health, hygiene, access to information, education) in comparison to our rural relatives.With no electricity, people relied on battery-powered radios for news and entertainment. Because dry cells were both expensive and scarce, most people used their radios for only news and death announcements. A few people played music (greetings programs) for one or two hours at most, turned off the radio and went to their plantations or for crude alcohol. The batteries were given a slightly longer life, by placing them out in the sun.On weekend nights, because of the quiet all around (no electricity, so no noise from TVs, radios, disco halls or Premier league football shacks), we could clearly listen to the Artillery Regiment (the military barracks in Masindi) jazz band playing at Masindi Hotel, even though the hotel (in Masindi Town) is about 11 kilometres from our home!Because most rural people, then, especially the elderly, did not travel much beyond their villages and at most, the district towns, I noticed there was a lot of mistrust about people from other parts of the country. I remember my Grandfather finding it strange that most of my friends were not Banyoro. When we would come home for the holidays, most people would greet us like we had come from a foreign country and when going back to Kampala, there was this traditional ceremony like, say, someone traveling overseas for the first time!Essential commodities, of course, were scarce, but a good thing this country had and still has, is good soil and rain, so food was always in plenty.The mid to late 1970s was the time I was in secondary school. Life changed considerably from the protected surroundings of Kitante Primary School and Bukoto flats to a boarding secondary school. St. Mary’s College Kisubi (SMACK) was and still is among Uganda’s educational cream, but adjusting to life in a boarding school, in the middle of the Amin era, was no cake walk. The headmaster, Brother Anthony Kyemwa, gave himself the “pleasant” duty of waking up all 600+ students at 6 am, for morning prep (pre-class self-study), we had flush toilets but the squatting type (quite some flexing, when you are used to the seating type) and it took me a long time to adjust to being addressed by my surname by both teachers and fellow students. My parents gave me what seemed like an ample amount of pocket money, but it was always all gone within a month, with boys from all over the country, widely diverse backgrounds and big age gaps between the youngest and the oldest boys within the same class, I had to give up playing football and concentrate on table tennis. At age 13 or 14, one couldn’t possibly compete with 18 or 19 year-olds, on a football field. That turned out to be a blessing, as my fortunes as a table tennis player turned out to be much better than they could ever have been as a footballer.SMACK had a unique characteristic, somewhat encouraged by the school authorities. Social strata were entrenched, such that ‘O’ & ‘A’ Level students were made to feel they were different from each other, i.e. not at the same “level of academic excellence”. ‘A’ levels had their own study block, their own dormitories, even though they were each assigned to the four Houses – Kakooza, Kiwanuka, Lourdel & Mugwanya. During meal times, they sat at their own tables. In 1976, even for a “1st World School” like SMACK, there was only one tiny B&W TV for students – watched strictly during news time and major sports events (like Muhammad Ali’s boxing matches and the World Cup).Evening news coincided with suppertime. The TV was placed more conveniently for the ‘A’ levels, so we younger boys would “crowd” the big boys to watch TV, while they ate their dinner. This didn’t sit well with them, so they sought to “show these wananchi their place”. On one particular evening tempers flared, lights went out, posho started flying and everyone ran out of the dining hall. It sparked off the first and possibly only ever school “civil war” – a strike between students, in Uganda’s entire history! With Ministry of Education intervention, several measures were taken to build rapport between all students – one of which was a student per class, per dining table, on a table of six.The coffee boom was reflected at higher levels, too. As mentioned earlier, brand new Hondas were imported. In 1977-78, other cars were added to that list – Datsuns 160B & 200L, Mercedes Benz 200 and most notable of all, the FIAT Mirafiori! The most common colour of this car, in Uganda, was yellow. It was comfortable, spacious, fuel-efficient and pleasant to look at!Mirafiori could be seen a lot at most of Kampala’s night spots. The most popular discotheque in Kampala (for teens and young adults) was the Chez Joseph Club, on Kimathi Avenue, run by “Muzungu George” (nicknamed for his light hue). Chez brought together mainly the educated elite and their children. Of course, security personnel too, were always there. Other leading clubs were Africana Night Club (Kamwokya), Tame Land (Bwaise), run by the famous band leader Peterson Tusuubira Mutebi, and the Economic Night Club, Mengo (so named because of Amin’s “Economic War” and also nicknamed “Economa”). Economa was host to many bands, both Ugandan and Congolese – acts like Super Kaumba, Bana Moja, Orchestre Veve and Les Noir, who released the popular track “Tugende Mengo”. These clubs would close by 1 am – the time most of today’s clubs are only getting started.Speaking of bands, the 1970s were golden years for “Jazz” bands in Uganda. Notable names are the Cranes, River Nile, Peterson Mutebi & The Tames, and Afrigo – this same Afrigo of today – was born in the mid 1970s (an off-shoot of the Cranes band). To top it up, every military barracks around the country, had a resident band of its own –“soldiers in tune”, you might say!Music bands were trend-setters, especially in dress code and grooming. When Tabu Ley Rochereau and a little later, Orchestre Veve came to town, the most eye-catching points about them were their platform shoes (Bongos) and bell-bottom trousers. These trends had been around for some years. President Bongo of Gabon, when he visited Uganda in 1973, was the first public figure to wear platform shoes (and so the shoes were dubbed after him), but it was not until the Zairoise musicians and local bands “favoured” them, did everyone else. Along with clothing were the Afro hairstyles, “championed” most of all, by the Jackson 5!Photo of Fiat Mirafiori, a 1970s band dressed in bell-bottoms and Afro hairstyles.Along with an active night life, the 1970s had an active cinema culture. We had a mix of both old and new movies (mostly Chinese/kung fu & cowboy movie) showing at Norman Cinema (now Watoto Church), Odeon Cinema (now Fidodido), Delite Cinema (Jinja Road near Uganda Railways), Neeta Cinema (now La Bonita Theatre) and the most thrilling movie experience of all, the Drive-in Cinema (now a container terminal near Transami Freight Ltd, Ntinda/Naguru). Most readers of this piece are familiar with movie halls (Cineplex, etc), but I presume most know little about the drive-in. In a nutshell, it is a “hall” where cars drive in, park on a paved area about 2 acres, with parking slots for every car with little portable speakers you lift off a stand and place on your dashboard. You then watch a movie projected onto a screen about 400 – 500 square metres, of course, always at night.Now, there was TV, cinema, record players and cassette decks, and then along came the VHS (Video House System). This was the precursor of today’s DVD, where sound and vision were compacted into one mega-tape (about 20 x 12 x 2 cm in dimension). The first technology was the betamax tape. Slightly smaller than the latter version, it came to Uganda for the first time (in a handful of homes) around early 1977. For today’s young generation, it is hard to imagine what kind of novelty a video tape and deck were, back in the late 1970s, but try to imagine how the whole ceremony of preparing to go to the cinema – pleading with parents for some money, pulling out those well kept jeans, sprucing yourself up and then trekking to the cinema, had now been conveniently zipped into one tape and a deck (about 2-3 times as thick as today’s DVD player), that you could sit down and watch for free, all afternoon.This pricey equipment was, of course, not for everyone. When they first came to town, video equipment was strictly for the president, ministers and other top government officials. By the early 1980s, several more people had acquired them, but still a tiny minority. People who owned video equipment held court, so to speak. “Veediyo” was a true status symbol. “Come home and you’ll see it on my video” or “I’ll lend you the video” would, today, be the equivalent of, say, “I watched Beyonce live in New York, last month”! Those of us who didn’t own veediyo in those early days, would put aside a whole day or half day of a weekend to go watch music or movie videos at wealthy friends or relatives’ homes. Relatives and friends visiting from, especially, England also held court with tape recordings of FM radio music programs. BBC personalities like Greg Edwards, Helen Mayhew and Tony Blackburn, were favourite voices that blared on tapes that played at parties and even discotheques. Can you imagine any DJ at Ange Noir or Club Silk even contemplating playing some poorly recorded tape from “outside countries” in his disco?Compact cassette tapes, too, were status symbols. With music originally from a vinyl disc and turntable, another tape (with new, 1981-82, technology) or simply from a radio, the lovable tape (or “compact”) was most convenient. You could slip it into your pocket, go to a friend’s home or a party and be part of the DJ’s stock. The C60 (the most common and convenient) played for 60 minutes, the C90, 90 minutes and the very rare C120 (2 hours). Owners of C120 tapes had a justifiable aura of self-importance. They were rare and expensive – not many manufacturers made them. The leading manufacturer (in terms of tape quality) was TDK, followed by Maxell, then Sony. You could record songs, wipe them off and record new songs. They had problems, too. With time, they’d get dusty would expand (from heat), so they’d get stuck in the machines and even snap. Having a tape of your favourite collection break while playing and then having to pull it our carefully, so you could repair it with cello tape, was true labour of love!A music-vending company by the name SSEGICO, with an outlet on Luwum Street in the early 1980s, sought to remedy “compact” woes. They would select songs carefully, based on genres and tempos or particular artists. Clients were not permitted to make selections (it would be a drag on SSEGICO’s work time – “We choose for you” – the DJs would say). Their tapes were numbered and lists pinned on the walls, so when you’d walk into the shop you’d simply say “No:74”, pay and take your tape. That suited very many people and made good money for SSEGICO (notwithstanding the grand piracy) but also, many choosy people never bought SSEGICO tapes.The change in lives of Ugandans in a few short months (late 1978 to early/mid 1979) was quite drastic. Amin was ousted, shops were looted, the country was unstable and the economy (that was slowly picking up, in 1977/78) went back to rock bottom. We went back to allocations sugar, salt, edible oil, etc, through the new local councils (Mayumba Kumi – 10 cell units). With the insecurity and senseless murders (mainly of leading members of society) people sought some kind of comfort in alcohol and other simple pleasures. The breweries had been looted and most beer was being imported and expensive. Some people distilled an illicit brew and falsely branded it Uganda Waragi (a recognized, respected brand). Unfortunately, these crafty “chemists” didn’t perfect their brew and this”Uganda Waragi” became deadly. Many consumers died. Most who escaped death lost their sight – permanently. That bad brew was one of the most damning aspects of social life in 1979, in Uganda!An even darker side to life in Uganda (especially Kampala) in 1979 was the mysterious murders of prominent people, most of who were shot dead by men in military uniforms, at point blank range in their homes! There were businessmen, doctors, senior civil servants, a senior UNLF officer (the forces that toppled Idi Amin) and the one that touched me, personally was a family led by a senior religious leader – almost the entire family!The old man was the head of an Asian faith, in the whole of Africa (headquarters here in Kampala). I met two of his sons through a close friend, and inspite of the family wealth – a big house in Nakasero, several cars, all the music in the world, a video deck, etc – I found them to be friendly and unassuming. One evening, intruders broke into their home, gunned them all down, piled the bodies in one room and left without taking any money or property! The old man, his wife, two sons and daughter met their death within minutes. Two sons who happened to be upcountry were the only survivors. It was shocking and scaring for my friend and me, as we wondered, “If these good people can be killed, especially in this way, what about the rest of us?”Rapid political changes between early 1979 and late 1980 saw 5 different heads of government (including a 7-8 month period in 1980 where we had a head of government – Paulo Muwanga (R.I.P) and three senior citizens who served as joint heads of State on a “Presidential Council”). Under the new government in 1981, an effort to stabilize and rebuild the economy, created two tiers of Bank Of Uganda-financed imports – Window 1 (at a controlled foreign exchange rate, for essential “government development-related” imports) and Window 2 (on open exchange rate, for private importers).The idea was that under Window 2, competing importers would bring in large quantities of goods and prices would automatically go down. Unfortunately, this did not happen. Importers placed huge margins on their costs, to recoup and make profits quickly. With the small size of the economy, sales turnovers were slow. Some of the few items that sold competitively were alcoholic spirits and wines imported mainly from Dubai. Whiskey brands like Grants and Teachers were fairly well-priced, leading people to think they were imitation products.These fairly cheap drinks helped to support the “Obufunda” drinking culture as well as the very public “Kisementi” complex. The Kisementi is a shopping complex on Kololo Hill (where the new Acacia Mall is). In the very spot where the mall stands was a set of small shops and market stalls in front of them (all opposite the bigger, more upscale outlets like “Just Kicking”, the supermarkets, et al). Market vendors placed their goods on a big brick & cement platform (as in the new markets around town), thus the tag “Kisementi”.The Kafunda culture grew alongside Kisementi, in the early 1980s. Bufunda allowed middle and lower income people to meet in familiar surroundings, familiar people and have drinks either with cash or credit. At the same shop, patrons would also buy groceries (in cash or credit), near their homes. This “culture” is as strong as ever, today.In the early to mid 1980s, Kisementi gave revelers who were connected with the establishment and/or less wary of their security and who sought to meet people in a public place, a good social meeting point. The many shops and bars, bright lights, ample parking space and security, were very convenient. It also served business people and senior government officials, scratching each other’s backs on government funded deals.In 1982, Makerere University was quite different from what it is, today. It had far fewer students than today (about 6,000, total), fewer buildings, was a lot greener and most students were residents, in the halls of residence. The campus was a kind of island, shielded from the considerably different life outside its gates.In the halls of residence, everyone knew each other, either by name or face, during meal times, most of us went to the dining halls and sat down and hand lunch or dinner together. Key features of the social life were the inter-hall sports competitions, crowned by bull-roasting in the hall that garnered the most points in all the sports events. At the beginning of the academic year, there was the freshers’ orientation week, where freshers had a week to themselves before continuing students (sophomores) came in. Within weeks, there would be the Freshers’ Ball – big parties in every hall (held on separate weekends in each of the halls) to welcome freshers to Makerere. The big party in the dining hall was what we called “General Happiness”. With a touch of snobbery, many people kept away from them and arranged their own private parties in their rooms “Room Parties” or with the willingness of Makerere staff who lived in flats or bungalows nearby, in their homes.“Hapa kwa Micho, kwa Micho yetu, kazi ya Micho kuchoma dume. Johnny Bull, Mama, Johnny Bull…” These are part of the lyrics for Mitchell Hall’s “War Song”. In a nutshell, it is about hyping Mitchell’s sports prowess, winning the inter-hall sports competitions and celebrating by slaughtering and roasting a bull. Between 1973 and 1983, there had been no other overall winner of the inter-hall sports competitions at Makerere. The “bull-roaster” was determined by total points gained from the various sports – football, basketball, table tennis, tennis, swimming, track & field events, cricket, etc.I joined Mitchell hall at the tail end of this “dynasty” and found emotions on fire, all over the campus, among sportsmen and other enthusiasts (morale boosters, we called them). 1982-83 was the first time in almost 10 years that Mitchell’s “hold on the horns” was looking uncertain. Voices from closely vying halls, like Lumumba & Nkrumah, were charging that Mitchell was employing underhand tactics (like luring good athletes to Mitchell right from High School, tampering with hall selections in the varsity dean’s office, bribing referees, etc). That the incumbent varsity Games Union chairman was a Mitchellite, didn’t help to ease tensions - fair and transparent man that he was.Under this atmosphere, during a football match between Nkrumah and Mitchell, an Nkrumah player tackled a Mitchell striker a little outside the penalty box. The referee awarded a penalty to Mitchell and that was the end of the match. Nkrumah players accosted the referee, while their captain grabbed the ball and kicked it way off the pitch. He led his teammates off the pitch and a day later, it was announced that Nkrumah had taken a decision to boycott the entire inter-hall competitions! A few months later, the games ended in rather untidy, inconclusive way. Mitchell and Lumumba went neck-to-neck on points right up to the end and eventually “shared the bull”.Between 1980 & 1985, the live music scene in Kampala and most of Uganda, was virtually dead. One of the few live bands that were active (and still active today) was Afrigo, who played regularly at the “Little Flowers” club, on Bombo Road. Most music entertainment was recorded – The Western sounds of Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, Shalamar, The Whispers, Phil Collins, Tina Turner, et al. This music would play a Chez Josef, Topaz, Club 82 and at Bachelor/Bachelorette parties – Busiki.Because of the insecurity in the country’s Central Region, these parties would run all night (Kikeesa), because one couldn’t comfortably get home at 11pm, midnight or any time before dawn. The party had to happen. How do you do that? Do an all-night party, starting around 9-10 pm till day break! The most grueling time was between 1 and 3 am, when you are cold, hungry, drowsy, broke (drinks and eats were usually for sale – these parties were cash-bar basis), but one couldn’t go home, because even if you or a friend had a car, how would you get past the countless road blocks and rogue wandering gunmen..?!A decade of both peace and turbulence, economic stagnation, total decline and then some level of growth, a time of fast-changing tastes and social standards, a period where Uganda saw more changes (violently so) of governments (five different heads of government) than all the other years of Uganda’s Independence, put together, is what 1975 to 1985 was.It is a time that brought out the people’s resilience, determination to survive and even prosper, under conditions (political, social & economic) that they had never experienced before.Many of us had taken for granted that life was as it should be, but in later years (1986 onwards) even in their modest gains, we cannot help but look at say, mobile phones and what they do for us, computers/email/Internet and remember how when a letter arrived from a friend or relative “in outside” countries, it was the talk of the week, when a relative in Europe or Kenya sent a tin of Nescafe and the depleted tin remained glistening in the cupboard, a year later, keeping memories of the rare taste.I’d say people who were around in ’75-’85, young or old, appreciate the very different circumstances today, much more than the younger people.