Mona Bassel - Staff Reporter

For the past 30 years, economics professor Galal Amin has been an acclaimed figure in the AUC community and among the region’s intellectuals. One of Egypt’s most renowned economists and thinkers, Amin joined AUC’s faculty in 1979 to teach generations of students about economic philosophy, Egypt’s economic welfare, and economic development.

Earlier this semester, and to much of students’ dismay, he announced his plans to leave AUC.

“I’ve enjoyed teaching at AUC and I love teaching. It is a pleasant place to be in from every respect,” Amin said.

Amin garnered international repute and commercial success after authoring more than 30 books in Arabic and English, including “Whatever Happened to the Egyptians,” its sequel “Whatever Else Happened to the Egyptians,” “Introduction to Economic Analysis,” and “Food Supply and Economic Development.”

Construction engineering senior Ahmed Alaa Fayed won a repeat round of the Student Union presidential election by a margin of 169 votes, late Thursday.

Opponent Mohammed Hussein came in with 670 votes to Fayed’s 839.

Election results on April 28 were too close to call - a nine-vote difference in Alaa’s favor – leading the Student Judicial Board to call for a re-vote.

A tragic love story, between a girl and a deceased folk singer’s head, takes place when the girl takes the head on a journey, in an attempt to rejoin it with its body. Mennein Ageeb Nas opens in AUC, April 6.

The play was written by Egyptian playwright Naguib Sorour, and directed by Theater department professor Mahmoud El Lozy.

Minister of Interior Mansour El-Essawy last week announced the disbanding of the controversial Amn el Dawla [State Security] in a move that has ignited debate over the role that respect for human rights should play in any future police apparatus.

“Minister of Interior Mansour El-Essawy decided today to cancel all administrative branches and offices of State Security in all the republic’s provinces,” the official MENA news agency reported.

The apparatus will be replaced with the National Security bureau and focus exclusively on terrorism issues.

As Egypt prepares for a referendum on con­stitutional amendments, the financial sector is still trying to avert decline in local markets.

But the economic downturn has adversely af­fected how reached AUC clubs and student groups raise funds for activities.