Taking a Detour

in Music...20

LAYAG:
did we?...12
 newsfeature
07 The Slippery Stepping Stone

feature 10

11
Having Fun with the Accountants

Sanggu does the Cha- Cha

06 A Time for Solidarity
12 LAYAG: Did we?
09 Different Colors of Fiesta Pilar
14 The RN Workforce: The Two Sides of the Coin
16 The iPhone Killer
15 Col. Salipsip Debate Championship
20 Taking a Detour in Music
The Aftermath of the Legal Management Farewell
21 Grooving with the Southwinds
17 Muses' Stroke
22 An “Eye” for a Masterpiece
Org Profile: Teach Me How to Sing
18 Masscom Launches e-zine
27 Da Doodle Do
Binurong Lapis
28 Classic Meets Rock
19 Reviewing Money Issues
30 Ripples
23 Nyaahuhu

24 Living Legends

miscellaneous 26 The Greater Depression

29 Musical Play Review: La Esperanza Encendida 31 Eagles Dominate Programming Challenge

33 Factoids 34 Goliath Falling and David with him

35 Creative Showcase 36 Pitching In: Our Trash and Us

18 23

27
32
16
sports
07
37
Admin Cancels SMADZU Sports League
Eagles Soar Closer to National Showdown
scitechnews
08 SCITECH Month 2008
32 Science Breakthroughs
37
12
Beacon's
second issue
presents its readers with a
21 number of stories
concerning music and the
arts, alongside with the
issues besetting the
campus at present. Read
on – to be proud of fellow
Ateneans in the outside
arena, to take a stand on
what matters, and to start
the second semester with
a new perspective.
Animo Ateneo!
THE BEACON
STAFF
Agnetha Julia May de Castro
EDITOR IN CHIEF
Raisa Mae Fernandez
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Rania Dawabi and Gerardo Luis Dimaguila
COPY EDITORS
Paulo Joel Caperig
NEWSFEATURE EDITOR
Keeshia Alix
FEATURE EDITOR
Al Rashid Sauti
SPORTS EDITOR
Joana Marizelle Suanco
MANAGING EDITOR
Leo Ernesto Thomas Romero
ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITOR
Cedrick Zabala
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Maria Rosario Legarde
HEAD CARTOONIST
Jan Meryl Luna and Valery Pioquinto
CARTOONISTS
Dexter Alvarez and Micco Bugtai
GRAPHIC ARTISTS
Vincent Arnuco
HEAD PHOTOGRAPHER
Meryl Jalani, Rashida Edding
and Rea Bilbao
PHOTOGRAPHERS
Everlyn Jaji, Adrian Uro, Gio Mangaya-ay,
Maybelline Joy Muesco, Alyssa Mariz Montejo,
Paul Nathan Beira, Leyson San Juan,
Ray Christopher Secuando
STAFF WRITERS
Jonathan Jimena Siason
MODERATOR
Mary Rose Jean Andrada
CO-MODERATOR
Ardrin Yu
TECHNICAL PERSONNEL
College Editors Guild of the Philippines
MEMBER
beaconnewsmag.freehostia.com
beaconnewsmag.deviantart.com
Websites

editorial
Going beyond our Comfort Zones
September – such a hectic time for this year as academic organizations and SIMO
squeezed all their activities into this one month. But, the question is, was it fruitful?
Did SIMO really fulfill their goals of forming the students into men and women for
others? Or did the students simply enjoy the break from their classes and did not think
much of the alternative classes?
SIMO's theme of Layag leaves us wondering if students really journeyed towards
social development. Yes, they did provide us with alternative classes of which they
believe would help us in fulfilling this goal but the students seem to think otherwise.
Not all are even aware of this year's theme because all they can think about is having
fun and hanging out with their friends. This is why the out of school activities like
following a river or scuba diving are usually the first ones to be fully booked.
I cannot help but wonder that if they did the SIMO differently for this year, maybe
they could engage students into this so-called relevant journey than what they usually
do over the years.
It would have been better if they could have pushed students to go beyond their
comfort zones by challenging them into doing things that they otherwise would not do.
They could give alternative classes by going to different marginalized areas of the city
and offer their services to the residents there. A good example would be going to La Paz
and do a medical outreach or shoe box operation. Or maybe, just maybe, have activities
that would make use of the student's particular course by volunteering for a day in far-
flung areas that would need their expertise. In this way, the students can be shown that
the reality out there is very much different from what we have here.
Visiting the court room, having poetry sessions, going to Abong-abong or taking
pictures of Pasonanca park can be done in any other given day and these are nothing
new to us. Worse, it does not even have that much of an impact. If they really wanted us
to journey, then they should know that these activities are not the only way of doing it.
But on the other hand, there are good things that came out. We have discovered
that there are students and teachers who are really talented in the music arena. But
unfortunately, not all seem to appreciate their talents. Only a few are really exposed to
their genre of music. One group only emerges during Atfests.
It is the lack of opportunity in this city that these talented musicians are being
overshadowed by others. It would have been great if the city mayor could support the
local talents we have here by providing an avenue of opportunities for them. A good
idea would be converting the empty space in Paseo del Mar into a dancing square
where they can perform their songs to the audience.
Yes, the concert band and even the Chorus are recognized outside the university
but here, they seem to disappear into the background when they are not needed. If this
kind of treatment persists, then it would not be a surprise if our local talent would
perish and no one would want to perform for us anymore.
If we want to change for the better, a good start would be going beyond our
comfort zones.
04
Verbatim
By Rania Dawabi
Hullabaloo
It's all over the telly. It's in the news. It's in the
cup of milk (or creamy coffee, if you're lactose
intolerant) that you drink everyday. It's in your
favorite chocolate, and there's always a possibility
that it would also conquer the realm of your favorite
canned goods. And, it's in your cat's dog treats.
Everything started out when milk manufac-
turers realized that increasing the volume of raw
milk (from cows) by adding water would decrease
the protein content of milk due to the tests conducted
measuring the nitrogen content of milk. The addition
of melamine “magically” solves the problem by
increasing the nitrogen content of milk, and,
apparently, its protein levels. Manufacturers of milk-
using products such as confectionery, powdered
infant milk, milk tea, and whatnot are also affected
because they use the raw milk for further production.
Traces of melamine were earlier found in dog treats,
which caused the death of a lot of dogs and cats (see,
dog treats are for cats, too!).
What's really revolting is the fact that these
products were already made available to the
consumers until recently, when the melamine issue
finally revealed itself. The role of government
agencies is quite confusing: do they not test if a
product is fit for human consumption before
releasing it to the public? Well, at least they're finally
letting us know the fruits of their investigations
through the telly-v stations, who flashed the names
of different products just before the commercial
break and just when you're wondering if those
products were melamine-positive or negative, a
seemingly cheerful ad of pantyliners is prancing
around the telly monitor.
The main cause of the hullabaloo over made-in-
China products is that consumers haven't forgotten
how Chinese products are tainted with quality issues
– high lead content in toys, formaldehyde in candies,
cardboard breakfast buns (although it was not clear
whether this was just a hoax) and borax in other food
products. Posted by reddayed5 over : “This is a clear
indication of global terrorism delivered as
nutritional products. I am afraid that Al Qaeda will
resort to this kind of campaign”. A lot of people
might think along the same lines, but China had their
losses too (four kids died and around 54,000 were
sick). And anyway, the costs are way too high,
especially if you're trying to poison the world, so Al-
Qaeda doesn't have much luck in this stuff (even
though they're stunningly rich).
While China has been, in a way, successful in
“cleaning up” its athletes (from drug/steroid issues)
for the 2008 Olympics, they should try to impose the
same strict attitude in dealing with the quality of
their products.
(Strangely, though, this whole melamine thing
brings back those high school memories. I wonder
why.)

Pinocchio's Corner
By Al Rashid Sauti
Unclean Wound
One thing that differentiates
the blood of every Atenean who is
compelled with the direct intuition
of getting their studies be
prioritized is that he bleeds blue.
In a lucrative arena that we are
confined in the essence of morality
has been shadowed with utmost
despair of confusion; the contrast
between the mixture of the true
blue and not so blue.
I share this statement with
aghast as I badly plunged in the
unwanted predicament. It is as if I
gaze the sunbeam differently now
from other species which I belong
to—as an eagle who sternly views
everything in midair. I only have
these thoughts proliferated in my
mind when a person with wisdom
shares his timely reflections to me
personally. It was as if I fell from a
ten-storey building ending up alive
at that; and the advent of reasoning
came differently to me in the
aftermath. The power of words
reminds me that it is simply
delicate and destructible at times
but could be pleasingly helpful
most often than not.
Formation. The very essence
of it lies with the extraordinary
God-given wits or should I say
wisdom to ponder on. It is
inextricably true that we settle on
an untimely predisposition at times
in concurrence with the present on-
goings in our back-tails. Worse, we
even remain unaware of the
backlash that it might bring sooner
or later. The idea in here is that, we
are unconsciously driven out from
the conscious aura of our fixed
position. In other words, this is why
we remain to do the not so good
things above the good things. A
mischief, waywardness, defiance
and all of the same sort or to the
extent of becoming rebellious, an
attempt of most people who enjoy
the backwardness of life.
The studies show, to support
the account of mine, the culprit of
the sought after but naive actions of
the many teenagers has something
to do with the recent exposure to
the environment one has situated
with. Again, it bounces back to the
influences of the surrounding
(whether in any form of medium);
it still remains the noticeable area
of crime.
The dimensions of the
problems could be traced back on
simply three things that a college
student like any Atenean has to live
with. The so-called three parts of
developmental formation have
rooted back to the problems that
arise in the midst of present
disposition.
To define clearly, let us take a
look at a triangle wherein at the
center (inside it) there is an
inverted triangle which represents
the student thus, forming other
three more triangle at the edges that
comprised the family, friends, and
lastly the school itself; these are the
other three significant contributors
to the development of a pupil.
What I am after for this
explanation is that what triggers
the main malady to be completely
contagious in a way that it remains
to be tolerable and worse
acceptable by the mediocrity. This
I say is consciously unnoticeable.
Hey, did I just sound like a
preacher (OMG)? Let us simply
view things this way. If all people
do jump to the waywardness of life
that is like to say they are
committing suicide; worse it
becomes more prevalent now than
ever. I may sound didactic and
exaggerated but then what I share
to you my friend is the experience
beyond the four-walls within a
compartment. Going back to the
triangle, if one side is affected thus,
likewise within the center. Each
part is in conjunction with the
center—the student.
One could best understand
this fact if you notice most students
tries to cross from a landmark that
says in the wall “don't cross!”
Lives for them are all about
breaking the rules and violate
more; worse, they're unprepared of
the consequences. The risk taken
here doesn't benefit them in one
way or another, a complete chaos.
Like the unclean wound it is as
deadly as it seems to be.
Two Cents Worth
By Paulo Joel Caperig
xOxO @#$%!
The U.S. hit Gossip Girl has
started its second season just this
September. The rise to fame of this
show was a hit worldwide. And the
line, “You know you love me.
XoXo Gossip Girl” even reverber-
ated in the homes of Filipino
teenagers.
Gossip Girl is a website that
reveals the private lives of
Manhattan's elite to the world. In
the show people merely had to
contribute a picture or a rumor (or a
fact) to the owner of the website
and she'd post it for all of New
York's entertainment. The rise to
fame of this American series tells
you that these kinds of activity is
not merely tolerated but is
celebrated. Mainstream culture
dictates that gossip is IN, even the
Ateneo students has found a
Gossip Girl wannabe in their midst
in the form of ADZUBuzz and
ADZUGossip.
Who are the people to be
blamed for this? There are two
groups who are at fault here, one, is
the unoriginal author of the website
who tried to recreate the drama of
the Upper East Side in the streets of
La Purisima and, two, are the
people who comment, view, and
talk about the site and its contents.
I think everyone, especially
the “stars” of the posts and theirs
friends, know that the author is the
ultimate mastermind behind this
plagiarized plot but let us not be
self righteous and pin all the blame
on them. Though the author is the
one who started the fire, everyone
else is at fault for fueling it with
gasoline. The commentors most
especially also played a big role in
the flight of this gossip franchise.
There are two kinds of
commentors that exist. The first is
the “I'm-being-mean-but-'honest'-
naman” and the “I-will-defend-
my-friends-patayan-na'to”
commentors. The latter is
forgivable especially when your
columns
little brother has been crowned as
the most “kupal” person in Ateneo
or when your best friend has been
dubbed as the girl who has been
passed around by the whole
basketball, baseball, soccer, and
chess varsity. Their feelings have
been hurt and in a show of loyalty
and best-friends-forever attitude
they stand up for them and start a
fight with all the haters who also
commented. This is not just
forgivable but commendable
because they obviously really care
for their friends and family. This
tells us that the people who are
affected and attacked by the site are
real people with real lives that
should not be bothered by all this
brouhaha.
The former comment-star is
not as understandable because this
is one of the most blatant display of
insecurity, self-righteousness and
hypocrisy I've seen in a long time.
I've read many variations in
different languages of the phrase
“in all honesty” as if to justify why
they said such mean, cruel and
unreliable comments of a gossip
blog under an unknown identity.
They feel that when they say
“verdad verdad lang” they remove
their guilt from their conscience,
never mind the notion that they
don't even own up to their own
“facts;” they hide under the skirts
of anonymity, or that they seem to
not have a social life outside it-
unless if that is their social life. If
you were really being honest then
you should not have the need to
hide your identity. Saying that
someone is “kupal” or discussing
whether or not a couple are hotties
or notties is distasteful no matter
how honest you say you are.
Although, the authors should
be condemned for creating such a
vulgar display with no class or
sophistication, the negative
“honest” commentors should also
be crucified for adding fuel to the
fire and patronizing this kind of un-
Ateneo freedom of speech.
05
 feature

A
Time
of
Solidarity
WORDS BY ALYSSA MARIZ MONTEJO
ILLUSTRATION BY CEDRICK ZABALA

Ramadhan Mubarak!

The word Ramadhan derives from the

Arabic root ramida or ar-ramad, which means
scorching heat or dryness. Ramadhan is a
religious Muslim observance that takes place
every ninth month of the Islamic Lunar calendar,
the month in which the Qur'an was revealed to
the Prophet Muhammad and the holiest of the
four holy months. It is the Islamic month of
fasting or Sawm, in which Muslims all over the
world do not eat or drink anything from dawn
until dusk.

Fasting

Beginning with the sighting of the new

moon, healthy and physically mature Muslims
are obliged to fast, to abstain from all food,
drink, any kind of tobacco use, and any kind of
sexual contact. Nevertheless, that is merely the
physical component of the fast. The spiritual
aspect of the fast includes refraining from
gossiping, slandering, lying and all traits of bad
character, and all irreligious and obscene sights
and sounds are to be avoided. Purity of action
and thought is paramount. Ordained in the Holy
book of Qur'an, fasting is a rigorous act of deep
personal worship in which our Muslim brothers
and sisters seek a raised level of god-
consciousness. The act of fasting forwards
hearts away from sophisticated activities,
towards The Divine. During fasting, the person
Eid Mubarak!
When the first crescent of the new moon has
Fasting is been legitimately sighted, the month of Ramadhan is
declared over, and the month of Shawwal begins.
intended to The end of Ramadhan is manifested by a three-day
period known as Eid-al-Fitr, the festival of fast
help Muslims breaking. This is locally known as the Hariraya
Puasa. It is a blissful time commemorated with
practice special prayer in the morning and the giving of zakat
or obligatory alms, and other forms of charity.
self-discipline,
self-restraint, Ramadhan Festival

practice true patience, sacrifice, and humility.

From Suhoor to Iftar
Ramadhan is a time for prayer, personal
and spiritual reflection, doing good deeds and
spending time with loved ones. It is common to
have one meal, known as Suhoor, just before
sunrise and another meal known as the Iftar or
the breaking of the fast, straightforwardly after
sunset. Fasting is intended to help Muslims
practice self-discipline, self-restraint, sacrifice,
generosity and sympathy for those who are less
fortunate.
sacrifice, The Ramadhan festival is a nightly fair that
took place at the Binalot de Zamboanga from
generosity and September 27 to October 4, 2008 from 6:00 until
11:00 PM. The festival was composed of different
sympathy for events such as the Azan Competition, Qur'an
Reading Competition, Islamic Quiz, Tarasul
those who are Competition, Maligay Food Design Competition,
nightly bazaar, Arabic Calligraphy Workshop,
less fortunate. cultural presentations and medical mission. The
night-by-night fair was comprised of joy, fun and
entertainment that brought new acquaintances
together and laughter to the hearts of the young and
old ones.

06

Admin cancels SMADZU Sports League
st
The 1 season of Sanggunian ng Mag-aaral
ng Ateneo de Zamboanga University
(SMADZU) Sports League Basketball was
cancelled with the direct mandate from the
College Student Services Management Team.
Last October 3, the CSSTM, which
comprised the heads of the different services
office in ADZU, under the leadership of
Academic Vice President Dr. Rebecca V.
Fernandez came out with the final decision on
the resolution of the conflict. They would
permanently cancel the SMADZU Sports
League Basketball.
The very first season of the said event
which was formerly known as Blue League
started last July 12 that highlights with the
theme: “Just Shoot Up: Aim for Ateneo Team
Spirit”, came out to its unfortunate incident
when there was a brawl that occurred last August
16 of this year.
It happened on the weekend game that
followed with fuming contention between two
furious players from their respective teams
which then escalated to a big fight of the entire
groups.
The Slippery Stepping Stone
WORDS BY KEESHIA ALIX
It is amusing to think about really, how
nursing students now pay an average of
P40,000 per semester; but where do they
really go after graduation? There has been a
constant decrease of demand for nurses
abroad yet we continue to experience an
increase of, not only nursing students, but
also of nursing schools which offer six-
month to 2-year courses.
The bitter truth for nursing students
that does not seem to catch attention is that
only people with connections, relatives,
and friends who are already working as
nurses or some other profession abroad
actually have the biggest opportunity to
leave the country for the greenest pastures.
There are currently 400,000 unemployed
nurses across the country which tells you
that the dream of earning green is not an
assurance for all graduates.
A third year nursing student said that
the only reason she is taking up the course is
because her aunt is already working as the
WORDS BY AL RASHID SAUTI
SMADZU President Mark Jason Harun
who then emphasized earlier on the league's
main purpose which was—one of the
SMADZU's steps to cater to the interest of
Ateneo students—had hope that the event would
resolve as soon as possible.
On the other hand, Sports League Head
Coordinator Floro Dave Arnuco, stressed that
the SMADZU aimed for the eventual success of
the said league— moreover, seeking for a better
outcome compared to previous SMADZU-
sponsored sports leagues.
As the Sports League Head Coordinator,
however, he further brought up a petition for
reconsideration on the termination of the whole
event. He further asserted that the final decision
must be entirely fair which will reflect the
student body's census.
However, with the final announcement, he
made it clear that SMADZU respected the
decision of the CSSMT as the latter always
recognized favorable considerations on bringing
about the welfare of the student body and
reflects the whole institution as well.
chief nurse in an American hospital. So the
question now becomes: where do all the
nursing graduates go because, certainly, not
all of them have relatives or friends abroad?
There are two facts to consider, one is
that there are thousands of nurses who
become registered in the country annually
who crave to add experience to their
resumes and, two, there are only a handful
of hospitals, in rural and urban areas, which
can accommodate this army of nurses. So
what do they do? These hospitals now have
their pick of the cream of the crop to work
for them for free. It sounds crazy, right?
Those who go through this process are
called volunteer nurses. It is as tiring and
difficult as being a staff nurse, accordingly.
Just because it says volunteer and you do
not get paid does not mean that you only
show up when you feel like it or only do the
jobs that you like to do or feel like doing.
Being a volunteer nurse might even be
harder than being a regular staff nurse
because they work the same shifts and the
sports
Furthermore, Mr. Francis Jay Llenado,
Director of Department of Student Affairs,
commented that the players should have to
conceive the fact that their purpose in joining the
league must go beyond basketball. It should
strive in building the spirit of camaraderie and
taking advantage of the supposedly stress-free
event. These were some words of
encouragement from him to the entire teams as
the final outcome brought positive implications.
The advent of Sports League was
intentionally made for the so-called barkadahan
but has ended in grueling conflicts. It was
supposedly to strengthen the bonding,
camaraderie and unity of Ateneans.
Fortunately, the SMADZU Sports League
will continue next year as it needs, however, re-
direction and overhauling in close collaboration
with the Administration as conjunction to the
resolutions made will be done.
These would ensure that there would be a
complete control of the event and more
importantly, that it complies with the purpose on
development of the students—the Atenean way.
newsfeature
same jobs as the nurses on the pay roll
except that they do not get paid after a hard
day's work. Fresh graduates now spend an
average of two-three years working as a
volunteer nurse before they actually leave
for other countries.
I recently interviewed two volunteer
nurses, one from a private hospital in the
city and the other from the Zamboanga City
Medical Center Intensive Care Unit. They
said that it is indeed difficult to work
without pay, but because of the steep
competition there are little ways now of
being able to gather experience if they wish
to work abroad. “The experience will be
like [sic] stepping stone to be able to work
in America”, one of them commented. They
said that after the first few months the work
becomes easier to manage because you get
to know the people you work with and your
superiors will really help you.
For Nursing graduates who have their
hearts set on reaching the land of milk and
honey, a year or two of volunteer
experience might be a small price to pay.
07
scitechnews
Scitech Month 2008
WORDS BY EVERLYN JAJI
In place of the usual College of Science and
Information Technology (CSIT) Week, the CSIT
Academic Organization (CSIT-AO) together
with the CSIT Representatives launched
SciTech Month 2008; a celebration that aims to
promote the college and to increase the aware-
ness of the Ateneo community in Science and
Technology through a series of seminars, work-
shops and competitions. The theme was: Make
Science and Technology Work for You.
Accompanying the change in duration, this
year's celebration included activities that were
not only made open to all the colleges but were
also made open to the region; the activities of
last year's CSIT week was only open to the col-
lege, and open only to the city for the seminars.
An excited James Delos Reyes, CSIT-AO presi-
dent, said “this year we wanted to reach out not
only to the Ateneo community but also to the re-
gion.” Thus, they added more activities that
would hopefully pull in more participation from
the students in and out of the city.
The Scitech Month celebration started with
an Opening Mass on September 1, 2008, the first
week ending with a TechTwist Challenge, which
was bested by Mr. Ryan Ciriaco Dulaca, Ms.
Jessica Partosa and Mr. Ian Leyte.
Seminars such as the Mobile Application
Seminar and the Cell Phone Moding filled up the
second week.
Among the activities of the third week
were the IQ Bowl, Tech Display, the Sudoku
Challenge that was topped by Giovanni
Belchez; the simultaneous PMO Trainer's
Training and Advanced Photoshop Workshop
which was followed by a Statistical Tools for
Research seminar, and the Regional
Programming Challenge.
The final round of the IQ Bowl was held in
the fourth week where the team of CMA bagged
first place. An Amazing Challenge and a
Cascading Style Sheet Seminar were also held in
the fourth week.
08
The number of participants in various
events made Delos Reyes beam, who expressed
that they did not expect the increased number of
participants they had. “Nag-increase talaga”,
Delos Reyes said, comparing the number of par-
ticipants from last year.
The Regional Programming Challenge, the
only regional activity, proved to be successful as
students from different schools offering pro-
gramming courses in the region came all the way
to participate in the city tour experience in the
morning and a competition held in the Advanced
Computer Laboratory in the afternoon of
September 19.
Some of the activities like the Basic
Mountaineering Course (BMC) were activities
of both Scitech Month and the annual Social
Involvement Month (SIMO). One need not be
confused though because these activities were or-
ganized collaboratively to avoid duplication;
SIMO catered to the Ateneo students while CSIT
catered to interested participants from outside.
Among the newly born activities was the
Recycled Gown Making Contest which tried to
feature the students' fashion sense and handiness
as they recycle. It was also an activity intended
to support the school administration's Solid
Waste Management Program. It did attract con-
testants, who unfortunately were later disap-
pointed after some miscommunications.
They were allegedly told that the said ac-
tivity will no longer take place by someone from
SACSI, which apparently was not true. Time ap-
peared scarce, and participants lacked sufficient
time to prepare, so the organizers decided not to
push through with the activity.
The Recycled Gown Making Contest and
the Cyberwhours, a strategy-based contest
through the popular game Defense of the
Ancients, were the only prepared competitions
that were cancelled.
The month-long celebration ended with an
Acoustic Culmination Night held in the Brebeuf
Gym on September 27. The night was filled with
singing voices and strumming guitars from se-
lected students of the college's different depart-
ments. The winners of the different competitions
were awarded there, and everybody happily
munched on their free dinner afterwards.
Smiles did not leave the glowing faces of
CSIT-AO Moderators Mr. Ryan Ciriaco Dulaca
and Ms. Aileen Joan Opina as they conveyed
their satisfaction of the celebration. “The best
thing was that we did not use a cent, instead, we
earned!”, happily expressed by Mr. Dulaca.
Delos Reyes too, felt that their expectations
were met. He said that awareness of science and
technology increased not only in Ateneo, and
that the CSIT will be ready to respond to the
needs of schools in the city in terms of informa-
tion technology. Talk about the CSIT being a cen-
ter of development.
A considerable number of CSIT students
also had positive responses about the celebra-
tion. They said they had fun. However, some
were still left uninterested and unknowing. All
the first year students expressed that they did not
really feel the month-long college celebration at
all, and most of them, especially those outside
CSIT, were confused what the violet and orange
ribbons in the catwalk were for, unaware that
September was not only for the Social
Involvement Month after all; something CSIT
has to work for next year.
Unlike the usual college week, CSIT's col-
lege celebration, lasting a month, enabled more
activities and thus allowed more opportunities
for students of all colleges to participate. But it
prevented others to take note of the celebration
as September also held SIMO and College Days.
Making it region-wide though fulfilled one of
the CSIT's tasks to reach out to the region and to
help other institutions through its Regional
Programming Challenge.
All in all, the Scitech Month 2008 was a success.
http://csitao.multiply.com/
Visit CSITAO’s official site for photos,
articles and more details
Website
Watch

I have been very curious about Fiesta Pilar
since I arrived here in Zamboanga last year. I
have seen the parade and other activities on T.V.
Now that October has arrived again, I can not
help but wonder, “what's with the Fiesta Pilar?
Why are there so many Zamboangueños
participating in it? Is it always like this? Why is it
that our Mayor and the other officials are very
active during this event? Is it not a religious
event?”
Director of Institute of Cultural Studies for
Western Mindanao, Robert Panaguiton helped
me find the answers to my questions.
Since he is the head of the said office here
in ADZU, I believe he will be able to shed some
light on the subject- and I was right. I went to the
office and the conversation began.
Fiesta Pilar was celebrated in accordance to
the feast day of La Virgen del Pilar. La Virgen del
Pilar is said to be close to the Zamboangueños’
heart and vice versa. It is said before that the
people of Zamboanga witnessed and
experienced the miracles of the La Virgen. Many
people also believe that it was La Virgen who
saved them during the tidal wave incident in the
coastal area a long time ago. These are just some
of the few reasons why many people are devoted
to the Virgen.
Here in Ateneo, the school participates
with the parishes in novena masses for the past
years. The school sponsors novena masses either
here in the chapel or at the Fort Pilar. Ateneo also
makes a pilgrimage that acknowledges and
invites the Ateneo community. It is not
compulsory either.
It is nice to think that we can participate in
this city-wide celebration as agents of
Zamboanga. We are also reliving the very
Filipino value of giving importance to the
procession and religious activities. Hence, the
school is also living its vision-mission.
Now in the post-modern era of continuous
changes, do people still celebrate the Fiesta Pilar
in line with the feast day or are the values and
core reasons of doing such are gone?
feature
We are now in the era where people no longer
generalize things, but are more sensitive to the
plurality, variety and differences of things. The
government now participates with the religions
organizations in preparing for the Fiesta. The
government integrates social activities in line with
the celebration like sports cups, exhibits and job
fairs but still emphasizes the spirituality and
religiosity of the event.
I came up with the realization that Fiesta Pilar
is not only a one-sided event. It is now composed
of many activities that will help improve the
people's social, religious and spiritual
characteristics. These “different colors” make a
new and wonderful Fiesta that will always be
passed on to future generations. These colors will
be done in accordance to the main reason why are
we are celebrating this wonderful event which
would leave a mark on all of us.
WORDS BY RAY CHRISTOPHER SECUANDO
PHOTOS BY JUNIOR BSIT STUDENTS
09
newsfeature
Having fun with
the Accountants
WORDS BY LEO ERNESTO THOMAS ROMERO
One hears 'accountant' and numbers first
come to mind…computations and formulas,
money matters and financial statements, audit
reports and income tax returns, and so on. In a
glance, it seems to be an entirely alien world of
technicalities and yawns, filled with beings with
calculators strapped in one hand and a worksheet
in the other.
Now imagine, a gathering of 160 or more
student accountants from different schools in the
region, all contained in one single venue, for
three day and two nights. Boring? Definitely
not. Just full of technical discussions and
updates? Certainly not. Just an alien world of
numbers and calculations? Absolutely not.
The National Federation of Junior
Philippine Institute of Accountants – Western
Mindanao Council (NF JPIA-WMC) held its
Midyear Convention from the 3rd until the 5th of
October at the Garden Orchid Hotel. The three-
day event serves as an avenue for educational
and talent showcases from the future accounting
professionals and leaders of Region IX. It also
served as a means for social development and
old-fashioned camaraderie.
Region IX is composed of eight
schools/local chapters: Western Mindanao State
University, Universidad de Zamboanga, Saint
Vincent's College, Saint Columban's College,
Notre Dame of Jolo College, Andres Bonifacio
College, Jose Rizal Memorial College, and this
year's host, Ateneo de Zamboanga University.
The event was planned and coordinated by
officers of both the local and regional chapter.
The activities within the said event focused not
only on the cerebral faculties of an accountant
but on the equally important physical faculties
as well; future accountants not only use their
skills with numbers, but also with dancing,
modeling, singing, and so on.
The former is exemplified through the
different academic events such as the different
10
quiz bowls, which tinker with the inner workings
of a student accountant's stock knowledge and
pit it against other accountants', and also the
technical sessions which add to the information-
basket of the students.
The latter is revealed through non-
academic events such as the 'Search for
NFJPIA's Next Top Model', a face-off in the
catwalk in different themed attires such as
'evening wear' 'the adventurous', 'the most
confident baduy', just to name a few; the 'Search
for Mr. and Ms. NF JPIA-WMC Ambassadors of
Goodwill', a pageant highlighting both beauty
and brains on the center stage of the various local
chapters; the JPIA Spelling Bee, which is loosely
based on the Scripps National Spelling Bee; the
Sudoku Challenge, a number-puzzle mania;
Revolucion, a dance showdown; and the Fun
Run, a micro-mini of marathons, from Garden
Orchid to ADZU.
The aforementioned activities took place in
different settings within the Garden Orchid,
which included the Orchid Ballroom, Roof
Deck, La Azotea, The Baron, Lobby Bar, and
poolside.
It was a fun-filled weekend, and ultimately,
ADZU tied with St. Vincent’s College and took
home the prize as overall champions. Special
mention goes to the following winners from
ADZU.
For the non-academic events: Joel Aquino,
Spelling Bee Champion; Genebel Reyes, winner
of Sudoku Challenge; Karla Acana, winner for
logo design-making contest; Ric Jason Tan and
Sitti Berkis Jauhari, winners for the Next Top
Model; Al-Rani Nicdao and Maria Cecilia Lago,
winners for the Ambassadors of Goodwill.
For the academic events: Cyril Mating, 2nd
placer for CAT I; Sherlyn Vernie Saladaga, 3rd
placer for Integrated Accounting; Karla Acana,
2nd placer for CAT II; and Maria Cheryl
Cardenas, 2nd placer for PFRS/PAS.
 newsfeature

Sanggu does the Cha-cha

WORDS BY PAUL NATHAN BEIRA

It is not the infamous national Cha-Cha is-

sue that Zamboangueños have to bear watching
on their primetime news, every now and then.
Charter change, in the context of the Ateneo stu-
dent government, pertains to what President
Harun and his administration are proposing: a
“revision” of the Sanggunian 1997 Constitution.
In contrast to those minor constitutional changes
or alterations which Sanggunian House repre-
sentatives usually do in the past, this revision
calls for a complete overhaul of the Sanggunian
Constitution, with very significant conse-
quences and implications.

Basically, the Constitutional revision calls

for the complete obliteration of the current
House of Representatives. Replacing the House
of Representatives would be the body termed as
the Central Board. The Central Board will be
composed of the Sanggunian President, Vice-
President and the respective presidents of all the
academic organizations. The Central Board
would assume all Executive and Legislative
powers and responsibilities, making it the cen-
tral decision-making body of the Sanggunian.

In the current constitution, the Legislative

Branch (House of Representatives), the
Executive Branch (President, Vice-President,
Department Secretaries), and the Judicial
Branch, are expressly separated from each other,
each having distinct powers and responsibilities.
Checks and balances are ensured in this set-up
because no single branch monopolizes all the
powers inherent in any form of democratic gov-
ernment, student-run or otherwise.
Moreover, in the current constitution, the
House of Representatives and its members, the
duly-elected college representatives, are tasked
to formulate resolutions and bills that address
the desires, needs, and concerns of the student
body, and present these to the Executive branch,
and ultimately, to the school administration.
That is basically the essence of the legislative
process.
Therefore, one of the most immediate is-
sues concerning this proposal is whether or not
checks and balances in the Sanggunian, and the
integrity of the legislative process, would be
compromised should the proposal be formalized
and implemented. Sanggunian Vice-President
Armee Jay Cresmundo says that this will not be
the case.
“The legislative process,” says
Cresmundo, “is indeed an important function of
the Sanggunian.” But what is lacking in the cur-
rent set-up, Cresmundo continues, is that stu-
dents' concerns are not properly addressed be-
cause there is no clear and direct link between
them and their respective college representa-
tives, who are essentially the people responsible
for voicing out their constituents' concerns.
“Without this link, the legislative process is in
vain because the voice of the students is not prop-
erly heard.”
“The establishment of the Central Board in
lieu of the House of Representatives would not
compromise in any way the legislative process,
but would even strengthen it,” Cresmundo
states. He claims that the inclusion of all aca-
demic organization presidents into the Central
Board would establish that all-important link be-
tween the students and the Sanggunian, thereby
allowing direct student participation in the legis-
lative process. Cresmundo argues further that
these individuals are directly in-touch and aware
of all issues and concerns regarding their respec-
tive colleges because of their positions in their
own academic organizations.
But another relevant issue surrounding this
proposal is its necessity. The compelling need
for this proposal must be properly justified if it is
to seek the approval of the members of the cur-
rent House of Representatives, who ironically,
are the ones who would formally vote for either
their continued existence or eventual demise.
Cresmundo defends this by citing status
quo. “President Harun appoints representatives,
whose main task is to legislate only, into execu-
tive positions so that they may initiate and be in-
volved in majority of the Sanggunian's activi-
ties,” says Cresmundo. “This mechanism has
worked well for us because jobs are done more ef-
fectively.” Accordingly, Management represen-
tative Kenneth Beldua opposed this because, in
essence, it was prohibited under the current con-
stitution.
“This situation prompted us to consider in
the first place revising the constitution in order to
make this mechanism 'constitutional',”
Cresmundo finally states.
So far, so good; at least in theory. The
Sanggunian's Committee on Amendments has so
far failed to present a draft of this proposal to the
House of Representatives, which if approved by
majority vote, would be further presented to, and
be subjected to a plebiscite by the entire student
body. If majority of the student body votes
“Yes”, only then will the proposal is imple-
mented formally.
Therefore, the challenge for the
Sanggunian is clearly to penetrate the politi-
cally-oblivious minds of the Ateneo student
body, and make things clear for them, because to
place the fate of an important political proposal
in the hands of the naïve and ignorant destroys
the principle of democracy to its very core.
Gigantic HotPosts would never suffice.

11
newsfeature
WORDS BY GERARDO LUIS DIMAGUILA
PHOTOS BY SACSI, VINCENT ARNUCO,
JAN SANTOS & COMPANY
12
September has once again been a busy
month. This year, however, was particularly
hectic; almost every college thought of holding
their college celebrations this September, and
almost everyday became a relatively mini Atfest.
September started out humbly with only the
annual Social Involvement Month (SIMO) to keep
the students busy; so this year begs this question
answered: was this year's SIMO still as effective
in immersing students in Social Involvement, or
has it simply become an easily digestible – and as
easily forgettable affair?
Behind the Theme
“SIMO is all about involvement,” says Mr.
Brian Bango, a coordinator for this year's SIMO,
“and it is there to get the students exposed to the
different organizations, institutions and sectors in
society.” SIMO primarily aims to engage the
students and to hopefully transform them
critically and formatively. This year's theme,
'Layag: Journeying Together Towards Social
Development', aimed at encompassing this goal;
Layag means sailing on a journey, and the Social
Awareness and Community Service Involvement
(SACSI) office hopes that this year, students
would “journey together as a community along
with Ateneo's linkages” – student organizations,
the academe, and several government agencies.
SACSI this year hoped that SIMO would be a
'merger' of these three entities. The past years,
SACSI merely invited government agencies and
socio-civic groups to come and speak in certain
sessions, but SACSI still took care of the
preparations. This time, however, SACSI has
asked these agencies to prepare the sessions and
activities themselves to be more directly involved
with the students. SIMO this year has also been
held in coordination with some college academic
organizations. Government agencies have also
been invited to a week-long Government Fair held
at the Brebeuf Gym, and the Kawagib foundation
to give a seminar, among others.
The Journey

The question remains though: have we

indeed journeyed towards social development as
SACSI hoped we should have, or have we
simply enjoyed the week-long food stalls in
Ateneo and took a few hours of ungraded
classes?
Let us take a closer look at the whole Social
Involvement Month. It hosted several seminars,
trainings, the alternative classes, and a
Government Fair. The Government Fair lasted
one week, and although hundreds of Grade
School students were suddenly seen carrying
copies of the Armed Forces of the Philippines'
(AFP) 'Barbangsa: Blood of the Honorable'
comic series, most college students were never
really aware that there ever was a Government
Fair, or what it was for.
The various seminars and trainings were
offered to only a select crowd of students, while
some were even required for certain students.
SIMO was launched through a Neo-Ethnic
Dance Competition participated by the different
National Service Training Program (NSTP)
classes. So the only major event during SIMO
that were open to, and could accommodate, the
majority of the student population were only the
ever-popular alternative classes.
These classes went through some major
changes this year though. Some of the alt classes
were closed to the majority, and only open to
certain students. This meant, of course, that
these same students were required to take up
these classes. All students under the College of
Nursing were required to take up certain
alternative classes, which meant that they no This of course, would have worked well Journeying means going somewhere, and to
longer had the privilege of actually picking the enough if not for the fact that requiring students actually grow in the process. That means that at the
type of alternative class they feel is interesting or always had a down-side. Unless an alt class is end, one has actually gone somewhere, and has
best for them. This also inhibited students indeed very well prepared and fulfilling, reaped so much throughout the journey. The alt
outside the college to, say, watch the film- required students would not be receptive to classes of SIMO this year was again marred by
viewing on Nightingale, or campaign for the anything that a certain alt class has to offer. Well inconsistencies; one student describes her alt class
prevention of rabies or dengue. prepared and really formative classes would as “Amazing!”, while another comments, “it was
According to Mr. Bango, one of the biggest elicit very good participation during the classes useless”. Although we understand that the number
concerns last year was the lack of participation. themselves, even if the participants were of alt classes and activities SACSI has to prepare
SACSI tried to work this out by coordinating required. Sadly, that was not the case for all the during SIMO is formidably many, quality in all of
with the different colleges, and Nursing in classes to which the students were required to the classes should never be compromised. We
particular responded by suggesting certain attend. All of the students I interviewed were should be able to develop new perceptions, views,
classes, and ensuring SACSI that they would frustrated when they realized they could not or perhaps habits at the end of SIMO. In the end,
gather students to participate. Voila, Nursing attend classes they wanted to go to, and most we should indeed have been able to journey
students were required. The required classes were down-right disappointed with the outcome towards social growth and maturity.
were, in effect, merely the outcome of an attempt of the classes they had to go to. If not, then at least let us choose the alt classes
to gather more students to participate during we want.
SIMO.

13
newsfeature
The RN Workforce:
the Two Sides
of the Coin
WORDS BY GIO RAY MANGAYA-AY
A veritable tug of war between love and hate.
Maybe I share the same sentiments with the
rest of the population when it comes to how they
view their course. In the nursing universe
however, after surviving a four-year bloodbath
(for the lucky ones), and passing the Board
exams, appending an RN to your name would
have to be the icing on the cake slaved on with
sweat and blood (gross, I know). And like the
Idol hopefuls who made it through the first
round of auditions, the RN finally has a golden
ticket abroad. For those with the one-track mind,
Nursing would mean perpetual hospital duties,
cleaning after Mr. Smith, and dollars. Of course,
that does happen. But contrary to popular belief,
nurses can specialize as well as boost their
portfolios with training that will, hopefully,
bring in more bucks. And it could possibly prove
to be fruitful, seeing as the specializations are
somehow interesting as they are tedious.
Nursinglink.com
gives these high-
paying specializa-
tions a spotlight in
their website.
A Certified
Registered Nurse
Anesthetist
(CRNA) is someone
who administers
anesthesia to
patients. They collaborate with surgeons,
anesthesiologists, dentists and podiatrists to
safely administer anesthesia medications. They
earn a rough estimate of $134,820 a year. You
have to successfully complete a CRNA program
(24-36 months) to be one. Prior to admission
into a CRNA program, applicants should have
already completed the following: BSN or other
appropriate baccalaureate degree, hold a current
RN license, and have one year's experience in
critical care nursing. Oh joy.
Nurse Researchers work as analysts for
private companies or health policy nonprofits.
They publish research studies based on data
collected on specific pharmaceutical/medical/
nursing product and practices. Now, doesn't that
sound familiar? They do earn $95,000 a year
though. Requirements include BSN degree, an
advanced nursing research often requires an
MSN, or more often a Ph.D. Now this is deep.
Orthopedic Nurses provide care for
patients suffering for musculoskeletal ailments,
14
such as arthritis,
joint replacement,
and diabetes. They
are responsible for
educating patients on
these disorders and on
available self care and
support systems. They
earn around $79,000 a year, which is not
bad. Again, an RN license is all you need.
The idea of being a Forensic Nurse
does sound extremely CSI. They aid law
enforcement officials in the investigation of
crimes including, sexual assault, homicide,
abuse, and assault. These nurses should possess
strong analytical abilities that aid them in
evaluating the causes of victims' injuries and the
precise methods that should be used to alleviate
them. This specialization earns less than half of
what the nurse anesthetists earn ($56,000 a
year), but the title itself should be a consolation.
Lastly, we have Travel Nurses who accept
long term positions throughout the country and
the world to supplement staffing shortages. An
adventurous personality and an ability to adapt
to new cultures are also helpful for international
assignments. You could land in a small town
with a rural hospital or you could wind up in a
well-known facility in a metropolitan area. Just
let the company know your preference. You can
always turn down the assignment if it is
unattractive or does not fit in with your career
goals. They earn around $60,000 a year, but at
face value, the traveling concept does make it
interesting.
Now that we've established some factors
that make Nursing excitable, this is what really
happens in the real world.
The ubiquitous visa. The other
golden ticket out of here. But whether
or not the visas do come, makes the
game of immigration more
complicated. It may take years for Juan
to even smell the golden ticket out of the
country. From the time it takes for him to
apply to the time it takes for
the visa to arrive has a
name: visa retrogres-
sion. It affects everyone
with the zeal to leave
for bigger
opportunities –
opportunities
which this country lacks.
It is not whether or not
nurses are still in demand, but if they
are able to leave in the first place.
In the first place, what is retrogression? It
refers to the situation where previously current
dates on the quota bulletin go backwards and
become unavailable. By law, there is a quota or
limit on the number of people who can be
granted permanent residence status (green card)
in any given year. To be eligible to apply for a
green card, there must be a visa number
available to you when you apply. The availabil-
ity of the visa number depends at the rate at
which green card applications are being
processed by the government. When more
people apply, and there are less visas in supply,
the US Department of State creates a “cut-off
date”, which is simply another priority date. The
difference is that the cut-off date belongs to the
first applicant who could not be issued a visa.
This means that visa numbers are available only
to those who have applied before the established
cut-off date.
In terms of statistics, a recently conducted
survey shows the extent of optimism Filipinos
have with the end of the retrogression. 50% of
the respondents believe that it will end by the
end of the year. 20% believe that it will
end during the first half of 2009,
while 10% believe that hope lies in
the last half of next year.
Yet 20% are adamant that it
will never end.
Like the would-
be singers who make it
past the first round of
Idol auditions, for
those who make it
through with their
visas in tow, a bigger
stage is waiting for
them. And it's going to
be bloody.

Col. Salipsip Debate Championship
Ateneo was once again faced with another
debate challenge. The Col. Salipsip Debate
Championship opened its gates last September
20. The elimination rounds were participated by
different English 211 and English 111 classes.
Each team comprised of three members
representing their respective sections while
there was one adjudicator participating for each
class.
The competition was spearheaded by the
Ateneo Debate Union of the Ateneo de
Zamboanga University. The union's members
served as the Chief Adjudicators alongside with
other Languages Department teachers. At the
end of the day, only two teams topped the group
to proceed to the Grand Finals of the said
competition; the English 211 section I
(Accountancy) students, and P (Mass
Communication) students.
The Grand Finals was held last September
26, at the Bellarmine-Campion lobby. It started
at 3PM. Before the competition started,
supporters of each team, as well as some
spectators already positioned themselves among
The Aftermath of the Legal Management Farewell
The start of this school year marked the
official termination of the Legal Management
program in Ateneo. After experiencing the
decrease in population and the low number of
enrollees over the years, the course which could
have been a good preparatory course for students
who wish to take up Law was stamped out from the
Management and Accountancy's fences.
This action led to different responses from the
student body. While some remain apathetic and
passive with this change, the others felt differently.
Recently, active officers of the Sangguniang
Mag-aaral ng Ateneo de Zamboanga University
(SMADZU), Earl D. Larroder, Deputy Secretary
General and Kenneth Vincent P. Beldua,
Management Representative, took the initiative in
promoting ways in reviving the LM Program.
Fortunately, the College of Management and
Accountancy shed hope to them by approving their
appeal with; however, one condition – a minimum
of 25 enrollees should be reached in the coming
school year.
“In everything we do, there is always
apprehension. And although 25 enrollees is
difficult to reach, I think we will be able to revive
this course if we will just educate the students and
inform them about the real nature of this course and
persuade them to join us and give them reasons
why they should join us,” affirms Mr. Beldua when
asked if he is confident with his goal.
WORDS BY MAYBELLENE JOY MUESCO
the crowd. Mr. Jonathan Jimena Siason served
as the master of the competition.
The motion debated upon was “This house
believes that blog censorship is a step-back to
freedom of expression”. The Government side
(English 211 P) consisted of Francel Joy de
Leon, (name) and Mary Christine Querubin. On
the other hand, Opposition side (English 211 I)
consisted of Al Rani Nicdao, Maybellene Joy
Muesco, and Rashida Edding. Government
discussed about how freedom of expression is
expressed by bloggers through their blogs and
how blog censorship eradicates this freedom.
They also mentioned the presence of
classification in blogs and how it differs from
censorship.
Opposition provided a clash by saying that
censorship does not eradicate freedom of speech
but that it limits freedom of speech to make the
blog sites a user-friendly virtual environment.
They also emphasized how the
“classification argument” of government proved
that there is something to be regulated with these
WORDS BY ADRIAN URO
To strengthen the possibility of
reaching the target quota for the school year
2009-2010, Larroder and Beldua plan to
conduct actions to encourage students not
only in Ateneo but in other high schools to
take up BS Legal Management. A forum was
also held in the month of October to answer
the questions and issues regarding the
course. Posters that encourage students to
take up BS Legal Management were also
posted in bulletin boards.
While Larroder and Beldua took the
initiative of bringing LM back to life, some
students asked why the Legal Management
Program was abolished while another course
that experiences the same problem of low
turnout of enrollees still exists.
Specifically, this refers to the BS
Mathematical Sciences course which up to
date has approximately 16 students from 2nd
year to 4th year and no enrollees for the 1st
year level. In addition to that, out of three
majors under this umbrella program, only
Mathematical Statistics continue to serve its
purpose leaving Pure Math and Math
Education with no takers.
Despite the problem that the
Mathematical Sciences Program faces, it still
continues to remain firm in its existence
unlike the Legal Management Program
newsfeature
blogs. It was an afternoon of arguments for both
parties trying to prove to their audience that their
stand is better than the other.
To give the adjudicators a time to decide on
the winner and best speaker of the previous
round, Mr. Siason announced the best speakers
as well as the outstanding adjudicators for the
whole duration of the competition. Maybellene
Joy Muesco emerged as the top best speaker for
the whole tournament while Meryhilda Jalani
was declared the top best adjudicator.
After some time, the seven adjudicators
already came up with a decision of the winner of
the tournament along with the best speaker of the
round. It was a split decision of 5 is to 2 in favor
of the Opposition side. Maybellene Joy Muesco
was recognized as the best speaker of the final
round. The two teams were then awarded with
their medals by Dr. Mary Shieldred Angeles,
Chair of the Languages department.
It was a tough tournament for all the
participants. Congratulations to everyone!
which was eradicated. In an interview, Dr. Paulino
Acebes, Head of the Mathematics department of the
College of Science and Information Technology,
said that he is very positive about the Mathematical
Sciences program and is not in favor of removing it.
“I believe that BS Mathematical Sciences has to
stay. Some people may not know it but this program
is really of great help to our society. If you are a
graduate of BS Mathematical Sciences major in
Mathematical Statistics, you can fit in various fields
making it one of the best programs in Ateneo,” says
Dr. Acebes, when asked if BSMS has to stay or go.
Just like the plan of Larroder and Beldua in the
LM revival, Dr. Acebes also plans to conduct
campaigns in different schools to invite students
who are about to enter college to take up BS
Mathematical Sciences. Specifically, he wants to
invite more students from National High Schools
and Science High Schools in the city since these
schools already have Statistics subjects in their
curricula.
Having stable future for the Legal Management
and Mathematical Sciences Programs is something
that is not of high assurance at present. The question
as to whether these two programs will continue to be
revived is yet to be answered. The only thing we can
do is participate in the different activities planned by
the people who wish to secure the programs'
stabilities and hope that they will not be permanently
removed from the system.
15
feature

The iPhone
OFF
“T-Mob ICIAL NAME
ile G1 :
UNOFF with G
ICIAL N oogle”
AMES:
Google
gPhon Android, Go
e, G1 ogle

Killer?
phone
,
Scree FEATUR
The G1 n ES:
65K co sports a 3.1
lor tou 7” Cam
chscre 3.1MP,
that ru en or righ era
(480× ns in HVGA t aroun
320) re
solutio quality d 35mm
n. .
WORDS BY LEO ERNESTO THOMAS ROMERO Dimen S to
1GB M r
4.60” x sions icroSD age
Weigh 2.16” x
0 .6 Suppo card preins
t: 5.6 o 2”; rts 8GB ta
availa u MicroS lled.
ble in nces. And D.
white, Other
and b black GPS, G s:
rown. o
Marke ogle Maps
t, Ama ,A
zon M ndroid
YouTu P3 Sto
be re,

broad instant
messaging
23rd of September… support and a customer service
Techies from all corners of fully functional whatsoever,
the known world drool… Web browser that using god-only-
Steve Jobs of Apple break allows users to knows-who-
a sweat… Critics ready zoom by tapping the screen. Plus, it has a wrote-it open
their sharp tongues… and QWERTY keyboard. source software
smart phone aficionados vetted by no-
release a sigh of relief…“at last”… The awaited Now let us go to the cons, by this I mean, let one, while Apple
moment has arrived, the birth of Google's new us compare it with the iPhone, to see how it fares. will give us the
baby, the G1. Although consumers still have to greatest
wait until October 22nd. There is no SIM-unlocking, it is tied to T- phone/MIB ever
Mobile alone, no Adobe flash, no MS made that is already 2 years mature.
If you have yet to avail of Apples's iPhone Silverlight, no MS Exchange, no iTunes and
3G, consider first her sexy looking neighbor. Skype, no multi-touch, no desktop synching The main issues between the two seem to
Google Inc. and T-Mobile USA has recently with PCs or Macs, no video recording, no built be: the so-called control issues of Apple, the
introduced to the public the first ever phone to in video player which should be downloaded open software pros and cons, the accused
use Google's Android OS: the T-Mobile G1 with from a third party, no camera flash, no proximity intrusion of the Google conglomerate in the
Google. and ambient light sensor and no stereo wireless world, and so on. No clear signs yet if it
Bluetooth A2DP. is going to reach Philippine shores, but if it does,
Android is a software platform and though it will not be as greatly
operating system for mobile devices, developed But do not just take it anticipated as the iPhone, it
by Google. It allows developers to write from me; let us see what would still be welcomed by
managed code in a Java-like language that others out there have to say, techies and phone aficionados
utilizes Google-developed Java libraries, but alike.
does not support programs developed in native 1. The Android has a
code. QWERTY keyboard. The All in all, the G1 has its fair
IPhone doesn't. An IPhone share of “who's and wow's”, and
The G1 is able to access Google search, is like a lady wearing high- at the same time, “tsk's and if
mapping, e-mail, and Youtube video services, heeled Prada shoes while only's”. Is it the iPhone killer
G1 is also able to support a variety of downloads, climbing Mt. Ranier. Why everyone is expecting? Not
applications and games from third-party suffer? really. It does not reach the hype
developers. The Android software includes like that of the iPhone.
2. If you want open Nevertheless, it is a serious
software without the tight control of Apple, contender. With its Google seal of approval, the
Microsoft and yes Google, go put Linux on future is
your PC or mobile phone and run it. But if you bright for
want a shiny amalgamation of steel, silicon this one.
and copper that can be worn as jewelry, look
nowhere else but Apple.

3. Apple is doing a WONDERFUL job. If you

don't like it, go ahead and get a Google phone
and be happy with that choice, watching ads,
using the oh-so-cool keyboard, getting no

16
 newsfeature

An “Eye” for a
Masterpiece
WORDS BY RAY CHRIS SECUANDO

After the Muses showed off their skills as renowned female artists of Zamboanga, the
Gallery of the Peninsula and Archipelago introduces Zamboanga's very own Michelangelo – Isidro
M. Floreta. His 3rd solo art show is entitled “Level Eye”.

When he was still a student of architecture in WMSU, he already showed interest in art.
Although he was not able to finish school, he pursued his passion for art. He was supposed to be part
of last year's exhibit at the gallery but unfortunately, his artworks were not finished on time for the
exhibit until recently.

He donated 24 artworks at the gallery plus 15 new artworks and formed his “Level Eye”
exhibit. His love for Zamboanga can be seen in his works. It is said that this love of his is the reason
why this exhibit exist. It was also introduced in celebration of the Fiesta Pilar. Curator of the

The Muses'
gallery, Ms. Trisha Mae Manulong said that this exhibit is fitting for Fiesta Pilar because the
artworks speak about Zamboanga itself.

Stroke To think that Zamboanga gives birth to very talented artists is something that we should be
proud of. So, why not take time off from your busy schedules and have a tour at our very own
gallery to see the works of Mr.
Floreta.
WORDS BY RAY CHRIS SECUANDO

The female Picasso and The exhibit would run for a

Michaelangelo of Zamboanga are on the month starting October 8 until
loose! Ateneo de Zamboanga University November 8. Not only that, after
introduces “Muses: An all-women art nine days would pass, a photo
exhibit”. It started last September 5 and will exhibit called “La Parroquia” will
end on October 3. Head of the gallery, Ms. be introduced. Look out and see
Trisha Mae Manulong organized this event the beauty of our city through
in coordination to SACSI's SIMO affair. It “Level Eye.”
is the first time for our very own gallery to
showcase 76 artworks, combined paintings
and sculptures of some of the female artists
of Zamboanga – students and professionals
alike.

These women who are not afraid to

show what womanhood is all about are the
following: Tina Aranan, Ja Cabato,
Amihan, Jean Cadano, Yanna, Corinne
Cheong, Lorna Fernandez, Jana, Mars
Legarde, Jasmin Llenado, Bambut
Montano, Rowena Pamaran-Mendez,
Rorie Aradanas, Micaela Marquez and Tere
Fabugais.

The main objective of this event is to

promote our very own female artists'
masterpieces, and to show to everyone that
women can match the artistic knowledge
and abilities of men. Artists as young as 18
years old have contributed their works at
the gallery. Different themes can be seen in
the artworks, showing the emotions and
artistic style of its painter. These
masterpieces are a must to see, and of
course, made for everyone to appreciate it.
Congratulations to our female artists!

17
newsfeature
Binurong Lapis
WORDS BY RAISA MAE FERNANDEZ

“Ano'ng ibig sabihin ng binurong lapis nga

ulit?”

In response to the same question, binurong

means “pickled or preserved”. Thus, the book's
title Binurong Lapis released by this year's
Creative Writing and Poetry Class under
celebrated local director Kiko Miranda, means
just that.

The book launching was done in the façade

of the Gallery of the Peninsula and the
Archipelago, a jam-packed event one should
add, graced with the other members of the
MassCom family.

“Congratulations to this year's Creative

Masscom Writing class because as of date, your works are

finally in books.” Mr. Edgar Baños, Department

Launches
Chair of Mass Communications praised the
students at the book launching event.

e-zine
After five months of hard work revising,
editing, deleting and improving all in the name
of Creative Writing lenses, 14 October 2008
served as the date of anticipation for all of the
WORDS BY AGNETHA DE CASTRO
students' final outputs to be made “preserved” in
books.
“The publishers hope that the line up of
“I am a proud mother of twenty four new
stories, especially apt during these dire financial
writers of ADZU,” Prof. Kiko Miranda added as
times, will inform, influence, enlighten, and
he gave a little surprise to his students when each
entertain readers.” – Overview from
marched up to receive certificates and leis-ala
www.splat08adzumasscom.multiply.com.
recognition day.
History was made by the second year
To the Creative Writing and Poetry Class,
students of Masscom as they launched an
Congratulations!
online magazine for students last October 15.

Before the launching began, Ms. Monabelle

Blanco-Delgado, moderator of the class cleared
to the audience that this is not an answer to the
infamous adzugossip/adzubuzz.blogspot.com
site.

The online magazine's writers are second

year Mass Communication students of the
Advanced Journalism class. They did this to
exhibit their desire of delivering news without
any biases and to show the fruition of a
semester's class to the readers.

They began their virgin issue with the

tackling of ADZU's many problems of
enrollment. They described in detail and with
unfailing research the reasons why our
enrollment declines over the years and how the
school is addressing this problem.

The issues presented are just some of the

many difficulties that our university faces this
year. Do not hesitate to drop by their website
and be enlightened of these issues.

Visit their multiply account –

www.splat08adzumasscom.multiply.com.

18

P $@%#!!
Reviewing
Money Issues
WORDS BY RANIA DAWABI
ILLUSTRATION BY CEDRICK ZABALA
Results of the recent consultations
conducted by Sanggunian Accountancy
Representatives Mr. Tyrone Stevenson Chua
and Ms. Abigail Paragas have shown that much
of the students from the Accountancy
Department, especially the sophomores, said
that the students were collected with Reading
Lab fees but they felt that these were not being
utilized, because they do not have “reading
classes”, nor do they use the reading materials
found in the NCB-201 room. Every student
probably knows that Engl-211 students “rarely”
use the reading materials – what they frequently
use are the podium, the lights, and, of course, the
air-conditioner, so it becomes a bit puzzling why
the “debate students” have to pay for Reading
Lab.
Demystifying the Enigmatic
Reading Lab Fees
Reading Lab fees are collected from
students who are enrolled in English 111, 112,
113, and 211, and the fees usually vary for the
first years and the “oldies”. For the Freshies,
Reading Lab is a refresher course wherein the
Php 922.36 that they're paying generally funds
the “colorful” CEM test materials that they use
to fill up their SRA books and the air-
conditioning of JR-1 where the reading sessions
are done, but those who got lucky enough to
achieve high English marks in the ATCU are
actually exempted from the painstaking task of
taking up the reading course.
For the second and third year students
taking up Public Speaking with Debate (English
211), the Php 1, 185.23 that they have to pay,
Before you finally shell out the cash in order to pay
for the remainder of your balance in the Finance
Office, perhaps a review of this semester's validated
form is a step to determine the satisfaction for the
tuition fees before any is settled.
which is labeled as “Reading Lab Fees” in the
validated forms, actually settles the air-
conditioning bills of NCB-201, where the debate
classes are usually held.
Now, one might ask how Reading Lab fees
differ from Language Lab fees, and the answer is
simple: Reading Lab fees exist and Language
Lab fees do not anymore. Language Lab fees
were, in the past, paid by students who were also
taking up certain subjects. According to
University Treasurer Bro. Raymond Belleza,
S.J., the main reason why this, along with other
fees such as Typing, are still reported in the list
of fees posted at the Finance bulletin board was
that these accounts were “copied off” from the
list of last year's.
He also said that they will be reviewing the
fees this year and they will try to chuck out the
“unnecessary” ones. “We wanted to make sure
that what you're paying is what we can really
give back to you,” said Bro. Belleza, who also
suggested that the students should also take part
and be involved in issues such as this for their
own welfare. Apparently, the students'
disinterest on “money” issues had become
evident during the tuition consultation flop last
year.
newsfeature
Reading Lab Fees – A misnomer?
“There's something wrong with the term:
Reading Lab Fees”, says Mr. Chua, one of the
Accountancy representatives. What generally
comes to mind when one hears, sees, or spells
the words “reading”, “lab”, and “fees” and
strings these words together is that these
financial obligations are required for those who
are “using” the reading lab and its materials; it
doesn't connote anything about air-
conditioning. Though the term may apply for
the first years that have SRAs to complete, it
does not thoroughly apply to those who are
taking debate. Bro. Belleza answered this by
admitting that they have to review the fees and
lightheartedly suggested that “English fees”
would be a better name.
A finer way to get oneself involved is to
“question” those validated forms and suggest a
new, creative name for those ancient fees. The
students should be vigilant about the money
that they are investing in a school that has
promised to give them back quality education,
because they are, in a way, shareholders of the
whole running-a-school business, which means
that without them, the Ateneo is just another
Lehman Bros.
19
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20
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21
orgprofile
CHORUS
TEACH me how to SING
WORDS BY MAYBELLENE JOY MUESCO
We often hear them sing, of course, that is
what they are all about. They are a bunch of
students aiming to air the spirit of excellence for
their college with a mixture of rhythm and
harmony. Allow us to hum more about THE
CHORUS.
The Chorus is now currently on its 11th year.
The organization was founded in the year 1997
by Ms. Nel Arnad. It is composed of more or
less 25 Education students as their regular
members, who are mostly scholars, but
nonetheless are aware of what they can
contribute in Ateneo despite their busy
schedules. You heard right, only Education
students are allowed admission in the said
organization. For the past few years, they did not
have any moderator. This year was not the same
though; Ms. Liza Garrido now serves as their
mentor, moderator, and friend. Their current
trainer for their performances is Mr. Rogelio
Elumbra, a teacher in the Universidad de
Zamboanga and a former member of the
Zamboanga Hermosa Chorale.
Yes, The Chorus is an organization in
Ateneo. But their activities are not just limited
on in-campus engagements. They are also
accepting off-campus engagements. The most
recent was the ZamBaSulTaps held last
September 19, 2008 at the Grand Astoria Hotel.
On the other hand, the most recent in-
campus engagement was their concert last
September 20, 2008. It was in line with the
Education Week Celebration. Accordingly, this
year's concert was better than last year because
of the number of people present in the said event,
as well as the number of those who supported
22
them. They also received positive comments
from those who witnessed it. On an interview
with this year's organization president, Augusto
Louisito Cardosa, a third year BSEd student, he
said that the concert is by far the most significant
yet hardest one to prepare.
It is most significant in the sense that they
exerted much effort to the extent of practicing a
month before the celebration. It is hardest in the
sense that he had to absent from school for three
days, to eat lunch as late as 3PM, to scavenge for
20 or so songs that are inevitably hard to find.
Cardosa also mentioned that their practices
depend upon their engagements. If there is an
upcoming major engagement like doxology
presentations, concerts, performances, and the
like, they practice everyday. But for the regular
practices, they do so every Saturday at around
1PM to 3PM. He also jokingly said that the
Home Economics room has already become
their house, a place where they usually practice
their songs. He confessed that sometimes they
get scolded for leaving the place a mess but they
try as much as possible not to forget cleaning the
place after use.
One event where the organization's name
actually ring a bell is during the chorale
competition every Ateneo Fiesta. Though it has
been three years since their last win, they still are
applauded for their seven consecutive wins in
the said competition. A hall of famer I should
say.
They open auditions for interested
Education students on the last week of June or on
the first week of August. Qualifications for
admission are voice and commitment. Cardosa
explained that they do not only want members
with “the voice”, but also members who are
willing to commit themselves for the
organization. According to him, they have
members who are not necessarily the best in the
music arena nor are they musically inclined but
they have the proper commitment which helps
the organization prosper besides the cliché of
being a student and a scholar at the same time.
Accordingly, in their previous years, they
used to be more famous. They used to perform
doxologies for programs organized by the City
Government. Now, they have become a little
dormant, but then again they are exerting much
effort in regaining back the name they had
already built for their organization.
Like any other organization, they have an
Executive Committee who serves as the
governing body of the group. The Chairperson
is, of course, Augusto Lousito Cardosa. The
Information and Awareness Head is Sandra
Ortega. On the other hand, the Logistics and
Apostolate Heads are Enjoy Jimenez and Hazel
respectively. They also have their Timekeeper, a
task given to Shirley Gajilomo. Kristine
Santinlo and Alma May Mondero are the
Recreational heads assigned to conduct team
building activities and the like. Their funds are
handled by their Treasurer, Jaymar Bayubay,
while the writing is in the hands of Ainie Shen
Tan. To supervise their musicality, they have
Jemar Peñones.
The Chorus will continue to achieve for
what they can through their voices. They
promise to be of service to society as much as
they can.

NyaaHUHU
WORDS BY GERARDO LUIS DIMAGUILA
CARTOON BY JAN MERYL LUNA
Seen the word 'Nyaahaaa' or something
similar on the Window Title of your Internet
Explorer browser lately? Well you are not the
only one.
The virus is popularly known as the
myeclass virus; simply because the VBScript
file that makes the virus run is entitled
'myeclass'. Contrary to some of the rumors I
have been hearing though, the virus does not
spread through the Eclass internet server itself;
whoever our local makers of the virus are, they
do not know how to do that, thank goodness.
Well, at least not yet.
The virus spreads through our Universal
Serial Bus', or USBs. Once a USB is plugged
into an infected computer, the virus automati-
cally copies itself from the computer to the USB;
and once the USB is plugged into another
computer, the virus immediately copies itself
from the USB to the computer. There, the virus
adds the word 'Nyaahaaa' to the Window Title of
your Internet Explorer. That really would not
have been bad at all, if it was not for an
additional feature of the virus: it copies and
recopies itself continually within the computer
itself.
For dual-core computers, or computers
with two hard drives (you can easily check
yours if you have another hard drive aside
from the standard drive C), the virus hides
itself in the first drive, or the computer's
drive C. There, it continually makes copies
of itself in the computer's second drive,
usually the drive E. As the virus copies itself
again and again, the newer copies simply
overwrite the older copies of the virus. In
effect, there are only two copies of the virus:
the primary virus in the drive C, and the
regularly overwritten copy of the virus in the
drive E. For single-core computers, or
computers with only one hard drive, the
primary virus is the only copy.
All this contributes to a “side-effect” of
the virus – it makes your computer lag; or it
slows your computer's different processes. It
copies and copies and copies itself, while
continually overwriting the old copies. Still,
there may be other reasons that cause the
computer lag, of which I am no longer aware
of.
But how does this virus work in the first
place? It is simple. Computers have a
newsfeature
universal native tongue – and once you learn it, and
you speak it, you can practically command any
unguarded computer around the world to do
practically anything, depending on your level of
expertise, of course.
The script, or language used to create the
myeclass virus was the Visual Basic Scripting
Edition, or the VBScript. It is an Active Scripting
language developed by Microsoft. For those who
know the Visual Basic programming language,
VBScript is somehow a limited variation of it. The
myeclass VBScript was merely written to append
the word 'Nyaahaaa' to the Window Title of Internet
Explorer, to continually copy and recopy itself
within a computer, and to automatically copy itself
into a computer using the Autoplay hardware feature
of computers. It automatically copies itself; even not
opening your USB will prevent this. Once an
infected USB is plugged into a computer, the
computer is infected as well. It is even better than
some popular worms.
Worse, since it is relatively new and is a local
virus, anti-virus programs cannot detect it yet, not
unless you disable the Autoplay feature of your
computer. An anti-virus to eliminate the myeclass
virus has been created and posted in the Downloads
section of the MyEclass website (it is the one labeled
'Anti-Tampa' under the Anti-Virus category there),
and it worked well enough, at least for the original
version of the virus. Unfortunately though, there has
been a newer version of the virus which somehow
refuses to be deleted by the anti-tampa.
So what could the only solution be? Prevention.
Always make sure that you have back-up copies of
the files in your USB; and before you insert your
USB into a computer, check if the computer is
infected. If it is, then do not forget to reformat your
USB after use.
Better yet, make some time to learn more about
VBScript and basic computer prevention against
viruses. Try searching about them in the Internet; or
if you chance upon people who know a lot about
them already (there are a number of them in the
Ateneo), try asking for their help. That way, you
would be better prepared for the ever-increasing
dangers in the IT world.
23
newsfeature

Living Legends WORDS BY GERARDO LUIS DIMAGUILA

PHOTOS BY VINCENT ARNUCO

They are the two youngest Jesuit priests in the Ateneo; and well, probably the two wisest. One of them shrinks a
thirty-minute mass into 15-20 minutes, while the other stretches it to forty minutes and as much as an hour. Just a
few months ago, we celebrated their jubilees as Jesuits, and this issue I have had the pleasure of sitting down with
them and chat away about practically anything; from stories of their early childhood and the stories of their
grandparents' early childhood, to their lives in the Society of Jesus and to their favorite food.

Fr. Nicomedes Yatco
...because it is in
knowing their history
and their culture
that teachers are
able to relate well
with them.
He is everyone's nightmare – but also
everyone's idol. Everyone who has not been
under him shrinks away whenever he passes by;
but to those who have been under him, he is a
personal mentor and friend.
Fr. Nick, as he is fondly called, was born
among five other siblings, with only one brother.
He went to St. Theresa's College until the
Japanese occupation in the 1940's; during which
time his father had him and his siblings study
and learn Japanese speaking and writing. His
father was then, in Fr. Nick's own term, the local
'tax collector' for the Bureau of Internal
Revenue, who then later on actually became the
Secretary of Finance under the Roxas adminis-
tration.
It was during a retreat at the end of his
Sophomore year in High School did Fr. Nick
first seriously considered the Religious Life. It
was in that retreat, he recalled profoundly, that
he told himself, “I want to be a priest.” There was
no question as to what order he would join; the
only priests he ever met personally were Jesuits.
After going through a rigorous interview
process with four Jesuit priests, the young
Nicomedes was admitted into the Society of
Jesus. So on the sixth of January, 1948, right
after the daily 9PM rosary of his parents, he
broke the news and told his parents he was
joining the Society. His mother, in response,
simply smiled; while his father, Fr. Nick
recalls, “did nothing”.
was. He was carrying a huge plastic with all his
files, documents, and pictures; he was so
prepared, that I felt embarrassed for a moment.
Before we even got the chance to really sit and
settle down, Fr. Nick related how sometimes
some Religious Studies (RS) teachers asked him
why it was important for RS teachers to know
the history and culture of the students; and that
his answer was simple: because it is in knowing
their history and their culture that teachers are
able to relate well with them.
That was simply how Fr. Nick was, his
passion for teaching going beyond the class-
room and with him wherever he went. I was
genuinely impressed, and that was where our
conversation took off. Fr. Nick has been
teaching for the past forty years. He first taught
at the Grade School and High School depart-
ments of the Ateneo de Manila. There, he
pioneered the writing of what was one of the
first, if not the first, Tagalog mass in history.
Fr. Nick relates that he got his teaching
style from his own teachers while he was still
studying in the Society, and he has been
perfecting it since then. He has never failed in
asking students to write up evaluations at the end
of the semester. “I make mistakes”, he admits,
and he has been devotedly trying to improve
continuously. All his teaching policies, he says,
are there to develop the students in various ways.
“Yeah,” Fr. Nick replies, when I asked him if
teaching was a first love, “You come to fall in
love with it.”

It was only after a couple of months
did the secretary of his father, while
visiting him, revealed to young Nick
that right after he told his father he
was joining the Society, his father
had actually asked him, his
secretary, to follow Fr. Nick
wherever he went for two
months; to find out who his
companions were, where he
went, and to determine
whether he was indeed
committed in what he
chose. It had been hard,
after all, for the father of
Fr. Nick to let him go.
When I sat down
with Fr. Nick, the first
thing I noticed was how
organized and prepared he
Fr. Nick had three girlfriends before
entering the Society, played a bit of basketball
and football, and loves Fresh Lumpia and Ubud.
But when I asked Fr. Nick who he was, he
answered that the best way to describe himself is
through the student evaluations. He particularly
showed me one of many cards he has been given
by some of his students in the past. He read it to
me; and I listened as the former student thanked
Fr. Nick for touching her life so significantly. I
felt more like I was in front a very happy child
showing me one of his most prized possessions.
But then again, I was in front of a very happy old
man showing me his prized possessions.
“Father,” I asked him, “to all the students
who has been under you; to all those who passed
or failed and rejoiced or wept, what would be
your message to them?”
He laughs. “God loves you!”

24
Fr. Aureo Nepomuceno

He has always been the gentle, soft-natured

old guy we see walking around. Whenever one
hears a mass with him as its presider, one
immediately braces for a rather entertaining
story during the homily. The mass will then
usually end 15-30 minutes beyond the set time.
But it is all good; one always leaves with a fresh
new outlook on things we sometimes take for
granted.

Fr. Nepo is well-known for his amazing

stack of vivid and clear memories of his young
life, and as well as his knack for story-telling –
about practically any topic. When I sat down
with him and he saw Micco, my photographer,
he happily asked him to take two shots: one with
his glasses on, and one without. Then he
immediately went on to “set things up”, and told
me that he was 87 years old; with 57 years as a
priest, and 70 years as a Jesuit. I whistled in
amazement, or at least I would have if I could.

Fr. Nepo was born on March 21, 1921, the

second child of Juan D. Nepomuceno and
Theresa Gomez, and had four sisters and five
brothers. Fr. Nepo describes his vocation as
“unique”; his grandfather and father before him
had tried entering the Society of Jesus before,
but all, through certain unexpected
circumstances, failed to go through. Fr. Nepo's
father got sick during the second or third year of
Theology study, and, having already met Fr.
Nepo's mother right after recuperating, was
unable to return.

Fr. Nepo relates though, that it was simply God

stopping his father. He describes his father as a
“holy man”, and he shares how his father
probably did more as a Layman than he could
have as a priest.
'Holy Angel University will formally open its
Diamond Jubilee Year on March 8, 2008,
coinciding with the school's Founder's Day, or
birth anniversary of the school's founder, Don
Juan D. Nepomuceno.' That was from the Holy
Angel University website, and although Fr.
Nepo had already told me that his father, along
with a priest, had actually founded the Holy
Angel Academy in response to the need for a
school offering secondary education, it was still
something else actually reading about it. I had
been talking with the founder of a prestigious
school's son, after all. His mother, whom Fr.
Nepo describes as a “wonderful woman”, also
went on and handled several businesses, like an
ice plant, a garment industry, and the Angeles
Electric Corporation.
Fr. Nepo reminisces reading a book written
by a Jesuit. The main character, he recalls, was
named Tom Playfair, the leader of a 10-member
gang. The story ended with Tom joining the
Society of Jesus. It was after reading the book,
just fade, and what would be left behind would
only be its sole core and life – God. Looking
back at that moment, he shares, made him say
that his vocation “was really from God”.
I tried asking Fr. Nepo one more question:
“What experience do you consider the most
significant?” And suddenly, Fr. Nepo launched
into a long, striking story about his life's work. I
suppose I struck a cord. Fr. Nepo considered the
whole time he was working in his ministry in the
Marriage Encounter as his most significant, and
he went on to tell me of his many adventures and
experiences there for nineteen to twenty years.

...all the world Fr. Nepo shares, that his call to the Religious
Life first started. It was deepened further by a
dream he had, in which God appeared to him and
would soon just asked him to choose between the missionary or
married life. He remembers choosing the
fade, and what missionary life then.
One particular moment changed his life
would be left dramatically. It was during a local fiesta. Young
Nepo and his father were enjoying the fireworks
behind would display, when all of a sudden, his father said,
“Sic transit gloria mundi” – Thus passes the
He recalls how once, when he was already
in his 70's and in a mountain somewhere in
Davao to give a marriage seminar, he had to
climb up 3 kilometers up a mountain side in a
horse. Fr. Nepo did not know how to ride one, in
fact it was his first time, so someone asked a
small boy to ride with him and guide the horse
along. Fr. Nepo laughs as he thinks about how a
small boy drove a horse for him up a mountain.
Any words of wisdom for us, father? I

only be its sole glory of this world. Fr. Nepo later relates that his
father might have said that to simply describe the
fireworks' temporary brilliance, but those words
core and life – struck Fr. Nepo deeply. He heard those words in
a spiritual level, and it changed his view forever.
God. To him, it meant that all the world would soon
asked, as we were wrapping up. “Just listen to
God. If you just listen to him, He is there.” I
smiled. I heard of your water therapy father;
secret to a long life? He beams. “Oh, right.
Always drink 3-4 glasses of water before
breakfast; that's good for you.”

25
newsfeature
The Greater
Depression WORDS BY GIO RAY MANGAYA-AY
An open hand
begs for alms in front
of the cathedral. A queue of
people line up as early as 5AM to receive
what they think, is help in the form of NFA rice.
Hunger plagues the world's poorest families…
And the coke float's price skyrockets (the
horror!), leaving the customer a little more
guilty as he slurps the remaining traces of syrup
left on the bottom.
Who can blame him? These days, the price
of a meal in a fast food joint can already buy
more than a kilo of NFA rice.
Somehow, going to the various fast food
establishments here (yes, including the canteen),
puts a big strain on the everyday consumer's
wallet. It is not just the coke float that has been
at the receiving end of flak from consumers.
Almost every food outlet here in Zamboanga has
been, in one way or the other, raising the prices
of their menu from P2 to P10 and above in the
last six months alone. In line with the scare of
“rice shortages” and the US economy in troubled
times since the Great Depression, the typical
scenario here consists of the menu board being
plastered with little pieces of paper/plastic
revealing the new, skyrocketed prices of, say, the
good old coke float and sundae cone. Troubled
times indeed.
A combination of the fluctuating prices of
oil, petroleum as well as transport, among
others, has been the usual culprits in the
burgeoning cost of food. On an international
scale, the cost of food crops such as grains and
rice, have also added to the frustration of having
to dole out a little bit more for food. When the
26
e ff e c t
of the rise in
the prices of food
crops reaches our
shores, it becomes more
problematic in our case. Instead
of rice, other countries could easily
“switch” to other carbohydrate sources
such as pasta. In the Philippines, rice remains the
basic dinner table staple. We consume 33,000
metric tons per day.
In the canteen, for example, the increase in
their prices mainly affects their meals with rice,
such as their breakfast platters, according to one
of the canteen personnel. As of the moment, less
than 50 pesos gives you a plate of fried chicken
with rice.
As far as consumers go, most students who
subsist on 100 pesos a day (possibly even less),
will have to sacrifice some “luxuries” of fast
food and opt for alternatives that would not be
too heavy on the wallet. Even if there are some
who can afford to dole out money enough for
daily servings of fried chicken from Jollibee, the
alternatives appeal to them more, as it is lighter
on the pocket.
But on a larger scale, the story twists into a
situation far more complex. The ripple effect
will be felt when the food price increase hits
those near and below the poverty line hard. An
Asian Development Bank study reveals that a 10
percent
rise in food
prices will lead an
additional 2.3 million to
poverty.
Where does the student stand in this? Well,
handing over the crisp 50 peso bill in exchange
for a greasy chicken fillet with rice is lot more
painful than it used to be, whether we can feel it
or not.
We may think that we are not affected with
what is happening with the economy right now,
but we are. The same goes for the rest of the
population all over the world, including the open
hand in front of the Cathedral still waiting for her
alms.
Sources:
http://www.iloiloviews.com/rp-rice-crisis-mirrors-face-of-global-
food-price-apocalypse.html
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20080518-
137326/High-food-prices-forcing-millions-of-Filipinos-into-
poverty
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/200804
07-128819/High-food-prices-to-stay
 feature

Da Doodle Do WORDS BY RAISA MAE H FERNANDEZ

PHOTOS BY VINCENT ARNUCO

Der is a new form of art

taking over da city.
In the annual celebration of the Fiesta Pilar
Activities, Catribo Complex hosted a live
doodling session for a group of IT students from
ADZU, Man Doodle 'Ta to fill up a wall of blank
spaced tarpaulin with doodles, lots of it.

Doodle means to draw or scribble idly,

while the person's thoughts are somewhere else
(dictionary.com). What was once considered an
aimless, childish activity to kill time is now
being transformed into a contemporary genre of
art. Scribbles and doodles can be anything from
pigs with wings, to alien brains, to giant vintas, a
collection of farm animals, from the cute and
cuddly to the indifferent or “unique”.

Doodling started in Manila as a new level

of art by a group of graphic artists known as Wee
Will Doodle. The new style of sketching and
drawing is being promoted, and the results are
astonishing. In a scene closer to home, doodling
has been given notice during the Closing
Program of the Scitech Month last September.

From notepads via ballpoint pens, doodling

has now a bigger canvas with the use of giant
markers. On a plain wall, doodle artists can
make a spontaneous mural with amazing,
unheard-of-characters, given an hour or two.

Doodles do not have to make sense,

because doodling is the most basic form of art.
An interesting masterpiece can be made by
putting together the various imaginings of the
rest of the artists, and details are done to fill in
the remaining space.

According to some students, doodling is

not anymore an indicator that a class is boring, in
fact it can be turned into a metacognitive
strategy. “I doodle when I'm in class, and then
what I hear from my teachers, I draw. Then I
remember the concepts because of what I drew,”
Cedrick Zabala one of the doodle artists shared.

Now, who said doodling is just for kids who

don't pay attention?

http://mandoodleta.multiply.com/
Do your like to see them doodle at your events? Visit their
site or email them at mandoodleta@gmail.com.

Website
Watch
“We doodle ‘til the ink runs out...”
27
 feature
meets
Rock
WORDS BY MAYBELLENE JOY MUESCO
The pride of the Ateneo de Zamboanga
University; this was how a Jesuit Priest labeled
the Ateneo Concert Band. And once again, they
have proven themselves worthy of such a title.
Last October 10 and 11 was the Ateneo
Concert Band's performance of their show
entitled: Classic meets Rock. It was in
celebration for the Fiesta Pilar. This was also
intended to please audiences of all ages. For
each day, there were two shows; the Matinee and
the Gala, both of which have two parts. It was a
showcase of the musical talent of its members
and of how they fit in varying genres.
The first part of the show was the classical
part. The songs played include Soaring with
John Williams, Hollywood Milestones,
Selections from Annie, with Lahing
Kayumanggi for the Matinee and Overture 1812
for the Gala. The second part was an appeal to
the younger audiences whose taste for music is
geared more on rock. Songs played during this
part include Glenn Miller in Concert,
Somewhere in Time, James Taylor in Concert,
Madonna: Concert tour, Child's Anthem, What
you won't do for love, Englishman, and Pirates
of the Caribbean: At Worlds End.
In an interview with the bandmaster, Mr.
Apolonio Enriquez, he mentioned that the songs
chosen were driven by the intention of letting
younger people hear more serious music like the
Overture 1812 of Tchaikovsky, while on the
other hand, letting older people appreciate the
latest rock music that this generation is currently
crazy about. He also adds that on that very
28
aspect, he feels that for the band, it was a
success.
The preparation for the said concert was a
little over a month. Six pieces ordered from the
United States even came in barely two weeks
before the concert. Sir Poli acknowledges the
fact that these pieces were courtesy of Fr.
Antonio Moreno himself. The band usually
practices everyday from 5:30 – 7:00 P.M. But for
this event, they went beyond that.
“You know, it's very very difficult to
perform in front of students. It's very, very
difficult to please the young audiences. It's very
easy for us to please the older ones especially
those who belong to the age bracket of 40 and
above. They love practically everything that we
play. But the students, you know, they have a
different taste for music and so it's very very
hard to please them. So, I was very much
worried about the outcome.” Sir Poli provides
when asked about how he felt before the concert.
Apparently, it was a feeling of apprehension on
how their audiences might swallow their show.
But later on, he adds that at the end of the
day, it was the feeling of fulfillment on how their
heterogeneous audience loved the whole
performance.
There were a total of 49 students who
performed. 44 of them were regular members
while 5 were alumni of the band, who just left
last March. Sir Poli claims that he is still inviting
alumni band members to play with them during
special events. He encourages them to help the
band out.
This concert was supposedly an opening for
more tours and concerts. They intend to conduct
a concert tour in Davao and Cagayan.
Admittedly, the band badly needs funds. The
lack of it is a major problem for them because
their instruments are getting older, especially the
bigger instruments like the tuba and the baritone
saxophone. The sousaphone they are currently
using was an original instrument of the band in
1952. During the time of acquisition, it was
already second hand.
It would not be hard to imagine why they
had to polish it over and over again just to keep
its brilliance despite the fact that it makes the
metal thinner. He even joked by saying that he
told them not to use metal polish on their
instruments because they might not have
anymore instruments to use. It is not even
unimaginable that if this problem is not
addressed immediately. We might have the best
band members but they would not have any
instruments to showcase their talents. Few of
their most needed upgrades are the bass, the
timpani (a set of 2 or 3), and the whole drum
section. Thus, if the band is the pride of Ateneo,
how come they are left to handle these problems
alone?
On a brighter note, Sir Poli proudly states
that the institution recognizes them. They are
known outside of Ateneo as well. It is rarely
noted that brass bands are invited to play inside
convention centers, but they, on the other hand,
get these kinds of invitations.
“It takes time to change focus from one to
another” Sir Poli added. They can not be the best
pep band, concert band, and marching band at
the same time. They are a concert band and they
want to focus in that direction. They have proven
their success in that area but it does not matter
because what they want to do is to give
audiences a delightful treat every time they play
their instruments.
WORDS BY AGNETHA DE CASTRO
PHOTOS BY RYANN ELUMBA
La Esperanza Encendida
With 50 pesos, you can see for
yourself the two act play of Layeta
Bucoy's La Esperanza Encendida
(The Burning Hope). The price of the
ticket cannot fully compensate for
the unforgettable performance of the
actors the night of September 30.
The play opened with little
children shouting out phrases like
“sana magka-cellphone na ako”,
“sana gumaling na si inay”, “sana
bumaba na ang stars para maabot
ko”. It was evocative and eerie at
first but the atmosphere of the play
eventually lightened out.
The director, Kiko Miranda
brought to life this creation of Ms.
Layeta that shows the lives of
children living in poverty and even at
the hands of cruelty. As if that is not
musicalplayreview
enough, one character named Daryl
lived in the cemetery because they
could not even afford to rent or buy
a house. He also feared that he
might not finish his elementary
education because of the
immediate need of helping his
mother take care of his crippled
father and of looking for money to
buy food.
The story of Daryl is just one
of the many sufferings that children
endure for the sake of their families'
survival. But it seems that the
parents unknowingly add a lot of
pressure on their children by asking
too much from them.
One unforgettable thing about
it is the haunting reality of showing
the viewers what the difficulties the
children are going through. They
have shown unusual maturity for
accepting the hardships in their
lives with gracious smiles.
Although their acting was not
superb, as amateurs, they shone that
night.
They were able to deliver the
message that the author wants to
communicate to the audience. This
was to show them that at the end of
every suffering, there will always
be hope and we should never lose it.
The ending was a little bit too
happy for people who love tragedy.
But it was just right for the play. If
this would be shown again, then this
is something that people would not
regret spending their 50 pesos on.
29
newsfeature
opinion
Just Words?
WORDS BY AGNETHA DE CASTRO
Good morning/afternoon/evening
Sir/Ma'am.
I'm sorry.
Excuse me.
May I pass?
Thank you.
Simple words, nothing remarkable
about them really but take another look and
begin to think how often we actually use
them in our everyday vocabulary. Not
much? Too much? Not at all? All of us are
guilty in one way or another for not using
them properly but it is much worse if we
are not using them at all.
Over the course of my stay here, many
teachers told us that only a blessed few go
out of their way to greet them even if these
students are not in their class. But there are
also those who do not know how to be
courteous not only to them, but to others as
well.
Another side to this story is the
seemingly endless litany of complaints of
teachers, Jesuits and other personnel of the
students' noisiness, rudeness and even their
being atrocious towards their superiors. All
are guilty of being like this in one way or
another. We are not perfect, we are only
humans right? But no, because a well-bred
student would be impeccable in matters
pertaining to good manners and right
conduct (GMRC). He or she would always
do the right thing in any given situation.
This is the reason why we have
GMRC in high school and FFP (First year
Formation Program) in college. The FFP is
like the drill sergeant who continuously
reminds us of being well-mannered at all
times. But it is sad to say that this is not
enough because no amount of drilling will
work if the participant is not willing to
learn.
It is a rare sight to see students going
out of their way to say these phrases during
the right moment. What the rest do not
realize is that outside the school, these are
the very same words that others would
most likely to remember from them when
they do something out of the goodness of
their hearts.
30
feature
Ripples:
Teaching the Values
of a Servant Leader
WORDS BY RANIA DAWABI
Ripples. Notice how these small
“waves” resonate throughout the surface of the
water, creating bigger “rings” as they move
away from the center. In the same manner, the
Sanggunian ng mga Mag-aaral ng mga
Paaralang Loyola ng Ateneo de Manila, in their
acknowledgement to the undying call for leaders
with a “genuine motivation for leadership”, had
created a program last 2002 that would generate
a network of leaders that would create “ripples
of change”; thus, the Ateneo Student Leaders
Assembly had blossomed from the actual desire
to “develop, nurture, and empower” the young
leaders of this generation and pose the ultimate
challenge of being servant leaders and creating
their own “ripples” that would make a difference
in their own communities.
Annually, around thirty-five (35) of
the “most passionate, driven, and promising”
student leaders from all Ateneo universities
around the Philippines are brought together,
usually during the semestral break, in a
leadership congress that seeks to develop the
innate leadership skills of the individuals,
inspire and empower them to be better leaders in
their own communities. Through the activities
of the congress, such as workshops, reflections,
and challenges, the individuals are able to
unleash the leadership potential within an
individual and use it to serve and “do more” for
the individual's organization and community
and actually inspire others to become leaders in
their own little way. Indeed, there is an “ASLA”
in every ASLAn, because they bear the
responsibility of ASLA's definite mission – to
form true servant-leaders.
The ASLA aims to create a leadership
experience that would last even after its
participants had left the comforts of their schools
and stepped out into the real world, where most
servant-leaders are badly needed. By keeping in
touch with their fellow “ASLANs”, they believe
that the challenge of doing more and “being
more” is rekindled – a manifestation of the
Ignatian value of Magis that is present in every
Atenean.
Although the ASLA had existed for
the past 6 years, it was only during 2004 that the
Ateneo de Zamboanga University had sent a
participant – Carlo Delfinado, who belonged to
ASLA Batch 4. The other ASLA alumni are:
Mellun Pepito – Batch 5; and Tara Mae Torres
and Kishra Dawabi – Batch 6. Now on its 7th
Batch, this year's ASLA Congress will be held at
Camp Explore, Antipolo from October 20 to 24,
2008.
The Application for ASLA is usually a
two-step process: 1st – paper screening and 2nd –
interview. Application forms are secured from
the ASLA Organizers, who are also the alumni,
for that particular Ateneo University. If the
applicants for a particular school exceed twenty,
then the ASLA organizers should narrow down
the applicants to twenty. The application forms
are then sent to the ASLA Core/Secretariat at the
Ateneo de Manila University where further
evaluations will be made. The ASLA Core will
select five applicants from the different schools
who will qualify for the second screening, the
interview. The second screening is done by the
ASLA Organizer, and the interviewers are
usually composed of ASLA alumni, who will
choose two out of the five qualifiers to
participate in the Congress.
“A community and network of
servant leaders creating
positive change in one's own
sphere of influence, with the
dream of establishing a
culture of leadership in our
society”
– this is how the ASLA envisions itself.
 newsfeature

How I Became a Ripple WORDS BY GERARDO LUIS DIMAGUILA

I remember the day I received my
acceptance letter into the 7th Ateneo Student
Leaders Assembly (ASLA). I was then
bombarded with tons of school work, and the
first thing I thought then was how I was possibly
going to manage to finish all of them before
leaving for Manila, just around three weeks
away. Somehow though, three weeks after, I
managed to stride up an A-130 Airbus with a lot
less to worry about; thanks to the assurances of
“Wag na kasi umalis!” from all my group mates
in a series of projects. But they did their jobs,
anyway; some actually doing most of the work,
and I was relieved.
I have never been to ADMU, and I must say
speakers, a group activity, and a series of
physical activities as a batch during the day,
but by the time we were setting off for Camp
Explore where we would be staying for the
next five days, I was already overwhelmed. It
was not the fact that we were the first users of
the championship bus recently used by Chris
Tiu and company. The first day was about
assessing one's self; our passions and our
goals, and we were all pretty shaken up. We
started to learn more about what leadership
truly is; we learned that a true leader must
become dispensable at the end.
The next few days were as
overwhelming, if not more. All the speakers
how much we love our country, and how loving it is
simply the right thing to do. We listened and grew
perhaps more than how much we could have
contributed to the week's sessions and activities,
and we realized that leadership is a task of not one
or a select few, but a task that must be shared and
entrusted by everyone.
I can still hear the music playing during our
acceptance ceremony. One important thing you get
from ASLA is the belief and the conviction that you
are not alone, and that problems can be solved, no
matter how seemingly impossible. As the music
played that night, I looked around and I realized
that there was indeed hope - for our community, for
our people, and for our country. As we huddled as a

e-class virus
that I was really impressed when I set foot there.
Rania and I must have circled ADZU already
just walking from the main gate to the Institute
of Social Order (ISO) dormitories, where we
stayed until noon of October 20. At exactly
12:30 of October 20, Rania and I, along with two
others from Ateneo de Naga who just arrived at 5
in the morning, marched up Sec C Foyer.
There, we were formally welcomed, met
the other 31 participants (the two from Xavier
University – Cagayan would arrive within the
week), and met our facilitators. We only had two
we had were prestigious; and the activities,
very well organized and synthesized right
after. Every single day was packed with
activities that each day would usually
formally end after 1 AM, and start as early as
5 AM. Some of us slept less than 15 hours the
whole week. And yet, the activities and
sessions (and yes of course, the food) were
such that none of us felt really tired the entire
week.
In ASLA, we learned more about
ourselves and our passions, and we realized
batch and put our hands together, I realized that
anyone could be in our places: anyone had the
innate capability to do something better.
Our designated cheerleader shouted, “One
Batch!”, and as we braced for our batch cry, I knew
that we had grown to share the same passions and
love for each other, for our own communities, and
for our country, and that each one of us burned with
the desire to empower others to share that passion.
“ASLA SEVEN!!” we chorused.

Eagles Dominate Regional Programming Challenge

WORDS BY GERARDO LUIS DIMAGUILA
It was not the juniors. It was not even the
seniors. Two sophomore teams from the College
of Science and Information Technology bested
12 other teams, mostly composed of juniors and
seniors, from all over the region in a battle of
pure logic and programming.
ADZU Team A, composed of Frank Lloyd
Teh (BSCS-2), Joseph San Agustin (BSIT-2),
and Kennron Damsid (BSCS-2) were declared
champion, while ADZU Team B, composed of
Jonnalyn Mendoza (BSIT-2), Erwin Bautista
(BSIT-2), and Felipe Camins (BSIT-2) bagged
second place in the first Regional Programming
Challenge (RPC) held at the Advanced
Computer Laboratory last September 19. A team
from STI bagged third place.
The RPC, a major event in the recently
concluded SciTech Month, shared the month-
long college celebration's theme: 'Make Science
and Technology Work for You'.
“This challenge was in line with the
Computer Science Department's commitment
as a Center of Development for IT to promote
Information and Communication Technology
(ICT) in the region”, said Mr. Ryan Dulaca,
organizer of the said event. The RPC was the
college's effort to help upgrade the region's ICT
curriculum. A programming professor from the
Western Mindanao State University (WMSU)
was invited to serve as the judge of the contest,
but Mr. Dulaca hopes to make the challenge
more formal next year by having an independent
body head the RPC.
Eight other teams from Zamboanga and
two from outside the city had joined the contest.
There were two other teams from STI, two teams
from Pilar College, one team from Universidad
de Zamboanga, and one team from the Southern
City Colleges. There was also one team from
Dipolog Medical College of Dipolog, and one
from Southern Mindanao College of Pagadian.
ADZU Team C was composed of Marvin
Chiong, (BSCS-3), Donie Nanding (BSCS-3)
and Gerardo Luis Dimaguila (BSCS-3). A fourth
ADZU team, ADZU team D, were composed of
Romeo Pulis (BSCS-4), Leonor Ycaza (BSCS-
4) and Aileen Kaye Deles (BSCS-4).

31
scitechnews

Science Breakthroughs COMPILED BY RAY CHRISTOPHER SECUANDO

There's Something
“Mushy”
In the Atlantic Forest habitat in
Southern Brazil, eight new different species
of luminescent mushrooms have been
discovered by mycologists, more than is
known from any single site anywhere in the
world. There are 85, 000 species in the
Fungi Kingdom, of which around 9, 000 are Tomatoes with SUN gene turned on and knocked out. (Credit: Photo courtesy Ohio State University)
mushroom farming species. Interestingly,
only 65 species in the entire kingdom are Tomato Crazy The results of the recent experiments were
an oval-shaped, and a very elongated-shaped
known to be luminescent. The reason for
why there are so few is still a mystery. Shapes-Capade tomato. To do this, they extracted the genes of
elongated tomatoes, which they then introduced
Here is a bit of fruit trivia for you. How do to wild, round, fruit bearing tomato plants; and
All known 65 species are mushrooms
you fit a pepper-shaped tomato into a small round they ended up producing round fruit similar to
that form thin-walled white spores for
hole? You turn it into a cherry-shaped tomato. Ok. the wild tomatoes.
dispersal, and all are white rot fungi capable
of digesting both the cellulose and liguin in That wasn't a very good joke at all, but still, that is
absolutely doable. Crop scientists at Ohio State With these, the scientists will be able to
plant debris. The greatest diversity occurs in
University cloned a gene that controls the shape gain a better understanding of what controls the
the tropics, although a few species grow in
of Tomatoes—a discovery that could help unravel shape of other very diverse crops, such as
temperate habitats. The luminescent fungi
the mystery behind the huge morphological peppers and the cucumber and squash family.
glow constantly, omitting a yellowish-green
differences among edible fruits and vegetables, as Imagine having heart-shaped tomatoes with
light at a wavelength of 520-530
well as provide new insight into mechanisms of dried fish for breakfast, or having small, round
nanometers. Not all parts of the mushroom
plant development. cucumbers in a Caesar's salad. Would it not be
glows – in some species, it is only the cap or
cool? Yum!
the gills that glow; in others, only the stem.
In some species, the mushrooms do not
glow at all, but the fine, thread-like
filaments (called mycelium) – from which Bio-Army against Cancer
the mushrooms develop – glow brightly. Cancer cells use a lot of tricks and one of the more
troubling is their ability to mask their presence, convincing
But why do they glow? Data suggest the body's immune system that they are, in fact, part and
that some glow to attract nocturnal animals parcel with the rest of their human host. If the white blood
to aid in spore dispersal. This is especially cells of our immune system—particularly the powerhouse
adaptive in closed-canopied forests where “killer” T-cells—could easily identify cancer, they would
wind dispersal is hindered. Others glow to have become a nanoscale army dedicated solely to
attract the predators of insects that eat the eradicating mutated cells.
mushrooms, and some glow for unexpected Bioengineer Tarek Fahmy of Yale University answers the problem. He devoted his life's work to
reasons. training our bodies to create such armies. His aim is to create immunity-boosting microcapsules that
guide T-cells to cancer. Already finding success in laboratory experiments with Mouse cells, Fahmy
So, just imagine the mushrooms in hopes to move to human trials within five years. Together with his graduate student Evin Steenblock,
your soup are glowing. It would really be they have created cell-sized plastic spheres that both prep the immune system to fight and stimulate
one of the finer dining experiences in your the T-cells to multiply their forces. If successful, aside from cancer, it will eventually be applicable on
life. other diseases ranging from AIDS to Influenza.

32
 16 weeks at # 1
on the Billboard
charts is the
record, held by
Mariah Carey and
Boyz II Men for
One Sweet Day
(1995 - 1996)

In April of 1964, The Beatles held the

top 5 positions on the Billboard
Charts.
#1 - Can't Buy Me Love,
#2 - Twist and Shout,
#3 - She Loves You,
#4 - I Want to Hold Your Hand,
#5 - Please Please Me

Akon's Smack That debuted

at # 95 in October, 2006. The
next week it was number
seven. That jump of 88
positions was the single
biggest jump in Billboard's
history.

The album with the most Top

Ten singles charted is Janet
“I can play my Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814.
music for millions
of people, but I
can't hit a golf
ball in front of
20.”
-Justin Timberlake When “Ben” hit no.1 on the
Hot 100, 14 year old
Michael became the
youngest artist ever to have
topped the charts both as a
solo artist and as a member
of a group—a record that
he still holds today! In 2006, Bamboo
was hailed the “Most
Promising
Entertainer” in the
19th Aliw Awards.

The highest price paid for an

electric guitar at auction,

FACTOIDS was $959,500 at Christie's

in July 2004 for Eric
Clapton's 'Blackie'
Stratocaster.
Contribution to the
information overload
COMPILED BY MICCO JAY BUGTAI

33
a newsfe
eature
Goliath Falling WORDS BY PAUL NATHAN BEIRA
When America sneezes, the rest of the
world catches a cold. Economists all over the
world believe that is how dependent and
reliant the rest of the world is upon the titanic
American economy. Even our very own
third-world, forever-developing but never-
developed Philippine economy depends
much on its first-world, first-class, fully-
developed American counterpart.
But no one imagined that the Goliath
of all economies would ever succumb
heavily to a great financial crisis the way it
is doing so now, and sadly, the Davids had
little to do with it. In its most dramatic and
most lopsided economic collapse since the
Great Depression, the American economy
is slowly plunging itself into a whirlpool
of economic oblivion, bringing almost all
of the other nations' economies, including
our own Philippine economy, spiralling
k downward to the dark financial abyss,
with little chance of ever returning back.
It is only the $700 billion dollar bailout
plan that is keeping the titanic American
economy afloat, and with a highly-
possible Obama administration
leading America for the next four years
and a continuous line of failed
economic policies put up by our little
"economist" still sitting on top of
Malacañang, what does the future hold
for the Philippine economy?
For starters, exports and foreign
investments would be greatly affected.
According to a report by a local
independent think-tank IBON
Foundation Inc., around 20% of
foreign investment in the country
comes from the US, and a whopping
70% of Philippine exports directly or
indirectly go to the US. These numbers
may soon plummet as the global
financial crisis would lead eventually to
a significant drop in US consumption
and investment.
Second, the local IT-enabled
industries, such as call centers, would be
likely hit hard because of its considerable
dependence on the US market, according
to IBON. Call centers are part of the US
business process outsourcing (BPO) sector
currently operating in the Philippines,
employing around 200,000 Filipino
employees, and 50,000 more every year.
Again, these numbers may soon decrease as
American BPO companies might be
compelled to cut jobs and costs in the face of
an economic crisis threatening their
existence.
34
V
w Y
-and Da
But, the most crucial effect that the
global financial crisis has is upon our OFWs.
"The Department of Labor and
Employment's (DOLE) "worst-case
D
scenario" is that up to 50,000 workers could
lose their jobs in the US and other countries
affected by the US-led financial melt-
r
down," says Labor Secretary Marianito
Roque. IBON further speculates that the
US-led global financial crisis could
significantly put OFW deployments on-
hold. Worse, a slowing down of foreign
remittances would result as employers
react negatively to the crisis and make
further slash-downs in OFWs' salaries
and benefits, reducing domestic
consumption.
b j
The Arroyo administration is
sadly a part of this problem. Her
economic policies and plans call for
v
continuous trade liberalization and
economic globalization, but has sadly
put the Philippines heavily on the mercy
id
of other countries. Because of these
policies, the country keeps on exporting
its products and sending out its workers,
Q
instead of keeping these products for
domestic consumption and creating jobs
that would keep our workers at home and
help build our economy.
But what has been done can never be
undone. All eyes then must be focused
upon the future, on what can be done. For
w i
one, Filipinos have to pay more attention
t
to the oncoming US Presidential election,
particularly on Obama's plans for the US
h
economy. Local economic and political
analysts say Obama winning the election
may be bad news for the Philippine
a
economy. According to Prof. Rene
Ofreneo of the UP School of Labor and
m
h
Industrial Relations, Obama's policies
would be "more inward looking" than the
current Bush administration, adopting a
i
"more protectionist" economic policy
that may put obstacles on our exports and
worker deployment to the US.
Filipinos, more importantly, must
h
also pay attention to our own 2010
Presidential elections. A change in
administration might or might not change
the direction to which our seemingly
wretched country is heading into. But, it is
that kind of change that Filipinos must
seek.
The only question is: Is that a change
we can actually believe in?
 creativeshowcase
In celebration of SciTech
Month 2008, the AICG headed
by CSITAO held a Digital Art
Competition to showcase how
creative some of the guild
members can gauge. The
following turned out to be the
top three.

1st INVERTED EARTH

CREATED BY: Wella Lynne Saclolo
COURSE: BS Information Technology
YEAR LEVEL: 2nd Year

2nd EVOLUTION OF LEARNING

CREATED BY: Julia Mae Ballesteros

COURSE: BS Information Technology
YEAR LEVEL: 2nd Year

3rd TELEHENTE

CREATED BY: Jan Vincent Santos

COURSE: BS Information Technology
YEAR LEVEL: 3rd Year

35
Back cover
colored