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UP Community Protests Denial of Tenure, Large Class-Size Policy, Other Issues

By Danny Arao

Concerned University of the Philippines (UP) students, faculty, REPS and staff will hold a protest action on 29 January 2009, Friday, 8:00 a.m., as the Board of Regents (BOR) holds its meeting in Quezon Hall, UP Diliman, Quezon City. Simultaneous protest actions will also be held in the campuses of UP Los Banos (UPLB), UP Cebu, and UP Mindanao.

Various issues related to governance will be raised by the protesters. They support the tenure appeal of Prof. Sarah Raymundo of UP Diliman and the continued stay of Dr. Jose Gonzales as the duly appointed Director of the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) of UP Manila.

On the other hand, UP Los Baños faculty and students denounce the January 4 memorandum of UPLB Chancellor Rey Velasco ordering the implementation of a large class size (from 160 to 350 students) for ALL foundation and general education courses in UP Los Banos starting June 2010.

In Cebu, the faculty and students are against the unilateral decision of UP Cebu Dean Enrique Avila to suspend the acceptance of applicants for the admission test of UP Cebu High School scheduled on March 6 and in effect laying the grounds for the abolition of the high school unit of UP Cebu.

Protesting UP Mindanao constituents are supporting the appointment of a new Chancellor of UP Mindanao instead of reappointing the incumbent whom they believe has not fulfilled the requirements for democratic governance in the university, particularly transparency and accountability.

Contact persons:

Prof. Mykel Andrada, All-UP Academic Employees Union: (0927) 474-1362
Arnulfo Anoos, All-UP Workers Union: (0939) 194-0878
Prof. Danilo Arao, CONTEND UP: (0908) 866-ARAO
Jaque Eroles, UPD Student Council: (0915) 328-0878

from Prof. Danilo Arao, UP College of Mass Communication

Independent filmmaker Kidlat Tahimik is this year’s recipient of the highest award given by the University of the Philippines (UP) to a media practitioner.

He will receive the 2009 UP Gawad Plaridel for his outstanding contributions to independent filmmaking on July 10 (Friday), 2 pm at the Cine Adarna of the UP Film Institute. UP officials will give him a trophy sculpted by National Artist Napoleon Abueva. As part of the ceremonies, he will also deliver a lecture on independent filmmaking.

The event is open to the public.

Inspired by the progressive ideals of Marcelo H. del Pilar (nom de plume, Plaridel) of the reformist newspaper La Solidaridad in the 1890s, the annual award honors a Filipino media practitioner whose professional integrity and commitment to public service are reflected in his or her exemplary achievements in print, film, radio, television or the new media.

 Kidlat Tahimik was chosen for his excellence in the art and craft of cinema, as well as for pioneering efforts in introducing Philippine independent filmmaking to a global audience.

His independence as an artist is reflected in the non-commercial nature of his films, inspiring budding Filipino filmmakers to follow his example and to listen to their “inner duwende (dwarf).”

 He joins past UP Gawad Plaridel awardees Eugenia Duran-Apostol (2004, Print Journalism), Vilma Santos (2005, Film), the late Fidela “Tiya Dely” Magpayo (2006, Radio), Cecilia Lazaro (2007, Television) and Pachico A. Seares (2008, Community Journalism).

 Established by the UP College of Mass Communication, the UP Gawad Plaridel is supported by Coca-Cola Company and Unilever Philippines.

 For verification and other details, please call Irene or Lynette at 920-6864 or 981-8500 local 2668 (UP CMC Office of Extension and External Relations). You may also send an email to upgawadplaridel [at] yahoo [dot] com.

A can of Pepsi Max sits in front of me and gives advice.

“I know what you want,” it whispers. Beads of cold sweat roll off  its rouge et noir exterior. “I know how you can get it. Just do what you’re thinking right now. Go for it.”

I take a sip. ” It’s not a very good plan, and I don’t have a backup.”

“You don’t need one.” Chuckles coldly.

I turn Plan A over in my mind. It is possible it could work, like any scheme using brute force.  ”Perhaps,” I say.

The Moleskine chimes in. “Wait,” it says in a rustle of paper. ” Have you thought about the consequences and possible scenarios?”

The Sheaffer Balance makes marks. Numbers, words. “Holes in the plan,” it agrees,  ”here and there, where the mission could fail.”

Another sip of Pepsi Max. “You’re right - Plan A lacks finesse. And Plan B does not exist.”

The drink rallies. “Unnecessary, I swear.”

Anxious looks from the Moleskine and the Sheaffer. “This is too important to trust to chance. Preparedness is key to achieving the desired outcome. Remember how it hurt when you smacked concrete after jumping from a plane without a parachute? You need an improved Plan A. And a Plan B. And C, and D.”

I think of what I want and how badly I want it. The prize is worth waiting for.

I drain the drink. “But…!” it squeaks. “Think instant gratifica…!” I crumple the can and toss it, open the Moley, take up the Sheaffer, and think.

In the same park discussed in the two blog posts below (previous posts) is this tableau of a Thai merman serenading a twisted plant life form with a conch shell.

Try as hard as I might, I don’t get the meaning of this scene. Finally I decided to stop thinking before my brain exploded, and took the two objects at face value - as decorative elements.

As the Miranda Priestley character played by Meryl Streep says in the film The Devil Wears Prada: “That’s all.”

In Thai it is called a chedi.

A type of stupa, it is a reliquary for Buddhist objects, perhaps the remains or belongings of a saint.

It is installed in a neighborhood park in the Sta. Ana district of Manila. The park is called the “Philippines-Thailand Friendship Park”. That is why this chedi is here.

Sitting on the cherub park bench (photo in the post below), I pondered whether the significance of the chedi as a Buddhist icon or an architectural artifact would be noticed and comprehended by passersby. Would they even care what it is, much less what it connotes?

And if the chedi channels Bangkok, Chiang Mai, and all points Thai, does the cherub park bench symbolize the Philippines and its majority adherence to the Catholic faith with its putti and other artists’ renditions of angels?

How deep are the semiotic levels in this park? Were the elements decorating it chosen merely for their iconic status or to convey other, subtle, meanings?

Communication, as my professors preach incessantly, consists of shared meaning. Where is the shared meaning here if people do not know what a chedi is, where it comes from, what it stands for?

Sitting on the cherub park bench, I decided that whether or not people understand the signification of the park’s architectural elements, the park provides places to sit and rest and interesting things to look at. And that functionality, for the people of this neighborhood, is what counts.

This cherub in the park invited me to sit down beside him and watch the day go by.

Just off Plaza Calderon in Sta. Ana, Manila, is a little street lined with shops that sell many different things.

We took a walk there one day to see what we would find.

There were pirated DVDs at three for a hundred pesos (US$2).

Clothes, perhaps from China, Vietnam, or Thailand, most of them only available in small sizes.

A rainbow of handbags.

Plastic beads attract with color…

…as do children’s toys.

Ripe golden mangoes, summer’s sweetest fruit.

Vegetables beckon with color.

Eggs come in many sizes and prices.

Name these fruits in ten seconds - go!

Cookies and bread in a bakery window.

The pig bread has raisin eyes. No pigs were harmed in the making of this bread.

Rice cakes of different kinds.

Hot roasted peanuts - garlic, spicy, and “skinless” - are scooped into a small glass a little bigger than a shot glass, then poured into a little brown paper bag.

Parrots for sale at a pet shop.

Tricycles lined up to take shoppers home.

Apart from things, we also found life - teeming, noisy, vibrant, full of itself, basking in the summer sun. 

Photos taken with a Nokia XpressMusic cellphone camera.

The sun descended and touched a flower. It burst into flame.

This Pilot Custom 74 flies in from Leigh Reyes’s well-maintained collection with a three-tined music nib tweaked by famed nibmeister Richard Binder into an italic.

The nib is a beauty, with more than a hint of spring that makes it a joy to lay down wide lines.

Precision Japanese engineering and craftsmanship ensure that it writes from the get-go, without hesitation or skipping, even after being unused for weeks.

This is part of my journey towards out-of-the-ordinary nibs, as I venture farther out of my F (fine) and EF (extra-fine) comfort zone to explore the other options that make fountain pen use and collecting an enjoyable experience.