University of the Philippines as a research university

Oblation, symbol of academic freedom in UP

UP President Emerlinda Roman at a conference held in May this year underscored the need for the university to establish its “identity as a research university.”

Roman defined a research university “as one with a research orientation and highly active graduate programs across a wide variety of fields.”

“Research universities are distinguished by the fact that they aspire not only to apply and transmit existing knowledge but to create new knowledge,” said Roman, whose remarks were published in the July-August 2009 issue of the UP System Information Office’s FORUM newspaper.

Nice words from UP’s highest official.

But it will take more than carefully-crafted statements to make UP a research university.

Where should we begin? The university should assess the dedication to research of the people in UP’s graduate programs.

How many of them can honestly say that they’ve really helped researchers in UP?

Now, now, that’s one research problem.

Heaven and earth in one day

People asking Cardinal Vidal to bless them

Holiness and corruption are like oil and water – they simply wouldn’t mix.

But one can encounter them within one day.

It happened to me on August 12.

HEAVEN

At 11 AM, I attended a mass officiated by His Eminence Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal.

Yup, it’s a Catholic mass. And I’m not even a Catholic.

I’m a Methodist and I didn’t see anything wrong with doing that. Don’t we all believe in the same God?

With Cardinal Vidal after the mass. Yeah, sinner and saint

I attended that mass because I was curious. I wanted to see how a priest in the upper echelon of the Catholic Church hierarchy did his thing.

Had the mass been held by an “ordinary” priest, I would not have attended it.

High

Cognizant of the fact that he was holding a mass at a government media institution, Vidal centered his sermon on the practice of journalism.

In his homily, Vidal called on media workers to use their profession to spread positive values.

This way, he said, the media would help people realize that their neighbors are their brothers and sisters.

EARTH

At 3 PM, I was at the UP College of Mass Communication auditorium, listening to the lecture about ethics in community journalism delivered by journalist and UP journalism professor Yvonne Chua.

The journalism department chair introduced the lecturer

Four hours ago I was also in a place filled with people.

This time, however, the people were generally younger than the ones who attended the mass. And as far as I can remember, there were no religious icons in the auditorium.

The main difference though between the mass and the lecture was the subject matter: the mass was about spreading good deeds – something that was heavenly, while the lecture was about corruption – something that was earthly.

Low

In her lecture, Chua discussed corruption in the Philippine community press.

Chua said that the level of corruption among community journalists was higher compared to the level of corruption among their Metro Manila counterparts.

"We refuse to lower the bar," journalist Yvonne Chua says, referring to ethical and professional standards in the press

She cited low salaries as one of the reasons for the trend (but she was also quick to point out that some of the highest paid journalists are also corrupt).

Chua noted the provincial or community journalists’ low awareness of the Journalists’ Code of Ethics of the Philippine Press Institute (PPI).

She lamented that there was even less awareness of the PPI’s Expanded Code of Ethics.

Reaction

Red Batario, executive director of the Center for Community Journalism and Development, said corruption is not just a press issue, but an issue affecting society as a whole.

Journalist Red Batario used to be the boss of Yvonne Chua

He said it’s really hard to be a journalist in the provinces, where choices and employment opportunities are much more limited compared to those in Metro Manila.

Batario explained that many community journalists are not only reporters, but are also asked to function as editors, photographers and worse, advertising solicitors.

He added that some provincial reporters are not provided with the most basic reporting equipment, such as tape recorders and cassette tapes.

ME

It was a tiring but fun day.

I took lots of pictures!

And now I’m blogging about it.

Big words and a box

Dr. Clarissa David introduced the resource person

Standardization.

Homogenization.

Materialization.

These are some of the big words that I don’t see or hear very often, for two reasons.

First, I work for radio, and in my line of work such words should be avoided as much as possible. Second, I am a simple guy with simple needs, and therefore, prefer to use simple words.

But I’m also someone who likes variety. It spices up life, right?

Simple words. Big words. Combined, they could be an effective and entertaining way of expressing one’s thoughts.

Box

I encountered again those big words, among others, at a lecture entitled “Balikbayan boxes: The shipping lanes of the global market” delivered at the UP College of Mass Communication.

Fritzie de Mata is a PhD student of literature

The presentation was made by Fritzie de Mata, a student at the University of California in Santa Cruz.

De Mata said the balikbayan box has both commodity and gift values. She noted that past studies usually focused on the latter.

She said the homogenized boxes fit and stack perfectly in trucks, paving the way for the efficient and cost-effective movement of goods.

Dean Roland Tolentino delivered the closing remarks

“Standardization creates a frictionless movement of capital,” she said.

De Mata also talked about “materialization of affect.”

She explained that the absent father or mother does parenting through the balikbayan boxes, thus, “materializing” affection.

I really have to stop here.

I think this post is symptomatic of my concupiscence to accomplish my master’s thesis.

UP students gear up for Monday’s anti-charter change rallies

Activists from the University of the Philippines have vowed to step up their campaign against moves to amend the 1987 Philippine Constitution.

The students said they would participate in the anti-charter change protests on Monday, when President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo delivers her ninth and last State of the Nation Address before lawmakers.

They particularly denounced attempts to amend the charter through a constituent assembly. This mode of changing the Philippine Constitution gives lawmakers the power to propose amendments to the charter.

The activists expressed belief that legislators merely want to push for the lifting of term limits of elected officials.

Unofficial student enjoys his status in class

The Media 250 class handled by newly-appointed UP College of Mass Communication Dean Dr. Rolando Tolentino met for the second time yesterday.

I’m not officially enrolled in his class. I’m just a “sit in” – a student who is not officially enrolled in a particular class but attends it anyway.

Two of my classmates talking to each other during the 10-minute break

It’s my first time to be a “sit in.”

My reason? That class is about the political economy of media, the framework that I’m using for my master’s thesis proposal.

I like my status in class. I get to learn so many things, meet new people and interact with them, without having to submit any requirements.

Italian PM Berlusconi statement reminds me of sex class in graduate school

“I never understood where the satisfaction is when you’re missing the pleasure of conquest.”

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi issued this statement in an interview with Italian magazine “Chi,” which was quoted by the BBC in a report about Italy’s leader.

Sex class

Berlusconi’s statement reminded me of the Anthropology 287 class (Seminar in Sex and Culture) that I attended in 2005.

The subject wasn’t about hardcore porn or sexual positions.

It did tackle those things, but it focused primarily on the interrelation between the sexual practices of humans and the other aspects of human culture.

The title of the first article mentioned in this Anthropology 287 class syllabus is "What would Life be without Sex?" I'm wondering too

Jerome Bailen, the instructor, emphasized the importance of sex in society.

Bailen told us that he couldn’t think of any human activity that’s not linked directly or indirectly to sex.

He said that through sex, society replenishes itself as a biological entity and it preserves the values of its ancestors.

Class discussions

In that anthropology class, the instructor and the students talked about several sex and culture-related works.

One of the articles mentioned an interesting quote from Dr. David Givens, an anthropologist from the University of Washington.

“It’s funny. We do all kinds of very technical work, but out goals are still the basic animal goals – courtship and sex,” the article quoted Givens as saying.

I suppose Berlusconi was right when he said that he couldn’t understand the satisfaction derived from sex sans the conquest part of it. He must be really good at wooing women.

He could be the reincarnation of Giacomo Casanova.

Travel does not always mean you need to go to far places

Quezon Monument was built in honor of Manuel L. Quezon, the first President of the Philippine Commonwealth

When the word “travel” is mentioned, most likely the first things that come to mind are far places, airplanes, high costs and many others.

There’s nothing wrong with thinking about those things, of course, as far as travel is concerned.

But it doesn’t always have to be that way.

Travel doesn’t have to be about faraway places all the time. Or about airplanes. Or about high costs.

Beauty is everywhere.

I’m sure that there’s at least one place in your area that people who don’t live there would find interesting or beautiful.

So what are you waiting for? Go ahead and explore your city like you’ve never explored it before.

This slideshow contains pictures of some of the interesting places in Quezon City, Philippines:

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Swine flu comes closer to home

Anti-swine flu notice near the entrance to the UP-CMC annex building

The last time I was here in UP Diliman, on June 16, it was still swine-flu free, very much unlike many other educational institutions in the country.

The following day, on Wednesday, UP Diliman reportedly confirmed its first ever case of swine flu. 

Home

I was in mainland China when I first heard the term “swine flu.” CNN was reporting about the spread of the disease in Mexico.

The virus was in a faraway land.

Now, the disease is here, very close to home – close to where I live, work and study.

I’m not worried though.

The suspected cases are at two of the university’s dormitories, places that I have never been to.

Besides, unlike many other schools, UP Diliman is composed of several buildings, and has a land area that is almost three times the size of Monaco.

I’m not scared, that’s why I’m currently here at the UP College of Mass Communication (UP-CMC) Library, after doing some research at the UP Main Library.

Bye for now.

A www.inquirer.net report says three of the four suspected cases in UP Diliman are roommates at the Yakal dormitory

Swine flu fails to scare me

The UP-CMC Library, and other libraries, will be my third home in the next few weeks or months. Second home is the office; first home is my real home

Right now I’m at the library of the UP College of Mass Communication (UP-CMC), waiting for my ID to be countersigned.

I know this sort of post resembles a “tweet,” but each tweet is limited to only 140 characters.

I want to write more than that.

Swine flu

Today is the first day of classes in UP and many other educational institutions.

In recent days the swine flu scare in the country has intensified, with some students in primary schools and universities getting infected with the virus.

Like many other students, I’ve chosen to come to school and not be affected by this scare.

I think what would prevent me from coming to school, the library in particular, is bad weather. Not the spread of some disease.

I’m happy that classes have finally begun, after being postponed for a few days due to the swine flu alert. I’m happy because I would finally be able to go to the library again to do some research for my master’s thesis.

It’s time for me to go now and borrow some theses and other materials.

Activists urge gov’t to increase education budget

The UP-CMC, where I'm taking up graduate studies

I would like to thank the student activists who trooped to the University of the Philippines-College of Mass Communication (UP-CMC) on Friday, June 5, 2009, third day of enrolment.