Yan bags Most Outstanding Leader

SUPREME SACRIFICEDLSU-Manila calls for President GMA to voluntarily resign

Tip of the iceberg

This is a calculated risk -Br. Armin Luistro

ROBERT ROYCE ZUÑIGA

SEE YAN BAGS, PAGE 10

SEE CALCULATED, PAGE 8

Rest in peace. With the death of Archibshop Cardinal Sin, the Filipino people are looking for another political figure who would inspire and unite them in the midst of political crisis.

When the De La Salle Brothers on behalf of the DLSU-System made the subtle call for the resignation of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA), they did not explicitly consult other sectors regarding the president’s alleged cheating in the 2004 National Elections.

Instead, the administrators of the Sys-tem immediately published an open letter entitled Restoring Faith in Democracy, ask-ing GMA to make “the supreme sacrifice of surrendering personal want, comfort, and position.”

“This is a calculated risk. This (inci-dent) is not a product of consensus. There is a time when the leader makes a decision without consulting anyone… We’re asking her that the best service she (GMA) can do to the country is to step down voluntar-ily,” stated DLSU System President Br. Armin Luistro FSC, who oversees the 15 Lasallian schools.

Br. Armin admitted that he only had dialogue with the De La Salle Alumni As-sociation (DLSAA) and La Salle Greenhills Alumni Association (LSGHAAA), but had garnered unqualified support from them. When the Brothers made the letter, the System President stressed that the process of consulting other DLSU sectors would take a long time and is not appropriate to do during pressing situations.

Tale of the letter

Last June 30, the Federation of Lasal-lian institutions held a meeting regarding the educators’ stand on the Gloriagate issue. Br. Armin realized that no one from the educational institutions has yet ex-pressed a stand on the issue. “We discussed why only the views of businessmen and politicians were coming out,” he said.

The meeting resulted to the letter entitled Restoring Faith in Democracy

published in Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI) last July 3.

A committee, including Br. Armin, was formed to write the letter. The signatories of the letter were Br. Rafael Donato FSC and Br. Edmundo Fernandez FSC, who are auxiliary visitor and brother visitor of De La Salle Brothers, respectively. The letter was forwarded to executive vice presidents of DLSU-System schools last July 1 for immediate review. The letter could have been released in PDI last July 2, but Br. Armin called an emergency meeting with the deans on the same date to clarify their opinions on the stand.

“The released statement is considered the stand of the DLSU administrators [of the schools mentioned] and the De La Salle Brothers; though we do not expect everyone in the University to agree with it,” Br. Armin explained.

EDITORIAL

PAUL DARWYNN GARILAO

For the first time in the 22-year history of Gawad Mag-aaral, a student publications edi-tor has won the prestigious Gawad Francisco Ortigas, Jr. award also known as the Most Outstanding Student Leader. Meryll Anne Yan, former editor-in-chief of The LaSallian, bested four other nominees in the said category. She also won the Gawad Ariston Estrada, Sr. along

BY RAYMUND CUESICO

PHOTO BY PAUL DARWYNN GARILAO

DLSU remains politically neutralAlthough De La Salle University-Manila has stepped up political activ-ism in the light of the GMA controversy, the University will remain a neutral political voice.

In a meeting of the ad hoc committee held July 2, Dr. Julio Tee-hankee, chairperson of the Political Science Department, reminded that the committee should not allow political groups to use the University’s stand for their vested interests. “Huwag tayong pagamit sa unscrupulous process,” he added. Dr. Carmelita Quebengco, Executive Vice President (EVP) of DLSU-M, is of the same opinion.

In a rally staged at Ayala Ave., Makati last July 8, Dr. Quebengco said that some students asked to be excused so they could join the protest.

The Student Council tried to gather students to add to the manpower at the Ayala rally, after hearing that Former President Corazon Aquino would speak at the rally.

However, Br. Armin and the EVP discouraged attendance since the rally was organized by the militant groups such as Gabriela, Anakpawis, Bayan Muna, FPJ's camp, and the United Opposition, Kilusang Mayo Uno.

Upon learning of the political taste of the rally, the Student Council along with certain DLSU administrators, instead held an emergency meeting of the ad hoc committee to discuss other related plans. The meeting resulted to a dialogue and human chain the next day.

DONELLE GAN

A patriotic brother. Br. Armin has been vigilantly keeping watch on national events.

PHOTO BY CHRISTOPHER KISON

In a time of political volatility, the Administration and the student body have set aside University issues to sound the call for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo

(GMA) to make the “supreme sacrifice.”The embattled President GMA is constantly being

criticized by the public, due to her involvement in al-leged cheating last National Elections.

With this, Br. Armin Luistro FSC, DLSU System president, is currently mobilizing the campus sectors to participate in discussions and activities regarding the present crisis.

In fact, the Administration formed an ad hoc com-mittee to facilitate activities on the Gloriagate issue (see related article on page 3). Various activities and lecture series are being held in the University, such as a community dialogue and prayer vigil held last July 8 and 9, respectively.

“I’m still convinced that there will be a growing clamor for her to make the supreme sacrifice, and she will have no choice but to leave Malacañang,” Br. Armin stated.

Voice of brothersIt seemed that the whole Lasallian community was

silent regarding the GMA controversy. Not until the Lasallian Brothers of Philippine District released a stand entitled Restoring Faith in Democracy that appeared in the Philippine Daily Inquirer last July 2 (see related story below).

When GMA broke her silence and said, “I’m sorry…this is a lapse in judgment” to the public, the Lasallian brothers replied with the statement, “We now pray her (GMA) to bring to full fruition – the supreme sacrifice of surrendering personal want, comfort, and position”.

SEE SUPREME , PAGE 10Summoning Ninoy's strength. Opposition forces troop to Ninoy's monument at Ayala Ave. to air their grievances. PHOTO BY ERIC SIY

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s admission that it was indeed her voice on the tape talking to a Comelec commissioner ended all speculation that had been brewing over in the past month. But while she expressed her deepest apologies for the matter and looked instead to fast-track much-needed economic and political reforms, not everyone has come to accept it.

There are growing calls for the President’s resignation, with each day seemingly a new saga in another controversial presidential drama. There are both old and new characters, though one thing is certain: everyone is taking their position. The opposition, seeing that the President did not seem too sincere in her apology, has sought for a change in the government. Many groups have joined the call for immediate political reforms for the country’s survival.

Sincere or not, there is still much more that needs to be explained even with Arroyo’s apology. Also, whether she likes it or not, there are even more questions that need to be answered

SEE EDITORIAL, PAGE 4

LaSallianTheVOL. XLVI NO. 2 • THE OFFICIAL STUDENT PUBLICATION OF DE LA SALLE UNIVERSITY • 14 JULY 2005

De La Salle mobilizes sectors in calling for PGMA's resignation

PAUL DARWYNN GARILAO

Student Council proposes to overhaul Discipline Office operations

ROSS VERGEL DELANTAR

Amid the uncertainty sur-rounding President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (PGMA)’s

tenure in office, political analysts have presented likely scenarios involving the future of the Arroyo Administra-tion – all depending on whether or not the President resigns.

Dr. Julio Teehankee, member of the ad hoc committee on the Gloria-gate scandal, sees three possibilities: constitutional succession, extra-con-stitutional means, and PGMA’s reten-tion in power.

A Constitutional SimulationThe Lasallian Brothers voiced

through Restoring Faith in Democracy their stand to “reject all other extra-constitutional solutions to this present crisis or any other means which may lead to violence” and ask the President “to voluntarily relinquish power so that a constitutional process of suc-cession may proceed.” Dr. Ronaldo Mactal, who is also a member of the committee, likewise insists “we must follow the constitutional process.” The Center for Social Concern and Action (COSCA) calls to “apply the rule of law and follow the legal and consti-tutional process,” while demanding Arroyo’s resignation. Nevertheless, what exactly is this process, and how would the state go about it?

Article VII, Section 8 of the 1987 Constitution stipulates that “In case of death, permanent disability, removal from office, or resignation of the President, the Vice-President (VP) shall become the President to serve the unexpired term.”

Hence, VP Noli De Castro would automatically replace PGMA as the country’s Chief Executive once she is deemed unable to serve the remainder of her tenure. Potential constitutional successors to PGMA, however, would not be limited to the Vice-President alone.

Section 8 also provides for the Senate President or Speaker of the House of Representatives to assume power in an occasion when both the

President and the Vice-President are incapable of taking up presidential du-ties. This would be until “a President or Vice-President shall have been chosen and qualified.” Power falls to Congress, finally, when even an Acting President is rendered unfit to accom-plish presidential obligations.

In a nutshell, under the parameters of the presently enforced Constitu-tion, an orderly, linear, and systematic transfer of power is made available to government.

These can only be effected if and only if the President is found guilty of charges from the Lower House by a two-thirds vote in a Senate im-peachment trial. Resignation is the only other constitutional alternative though achievable by modes outside the Charter.

“Extra-” ChallengesWhile the law is clear with regard

to how the Presidency is to be passed on to potential successors, extra-constitutional methods comprise a different story altogether. Given the difficulty of overcoming an impeach-ment case’s numerical requirements in the chambers of Congress, the odds of another popular uprising loom. There are also alleged plans for a revolution-ary military junta. A snap election is another option.

Interestingly however, a third “People Power” uprising might be upheld by the Supreme Court, as it did a mere four years ago. Ruling EDSA 2 as a “peaceful expression of popular will” rather than a revolution, the justices stated the existence of a crisis in leadership that necessitated the enforcement of the constitutional rule of succession.

Former President Estrada’s dis-ability to discharge his duties was verified “when he said that he was already tired and wanted no more of popular demonstrations and rallies against him; when he and his advisers negotiated with respondent Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s advisers for a transition of power… when petition-

er’s own Executive Secretary declared that petitioner was not only in a corner but was down.” This was according to the verdict.

Hence, once a vacuum of leader-ship is established, the Supreme Court may acknowledge the legality of a popular uprising. However, a Philip-pine Daily Inquirer-perceived “people power fatigue” among Filipinos nowa-days could prevent this outcome.

Status QuoBut what if the President insists in

staying atop the state ladder? Dr. Tee-hankee believes that the days before the next State of the Nation Address on July 25 and the next few months will determine whether the President stays in power or not.

Chances are, if the issue remains unresolved long enough, she could get away from today’s thorny political scenario and the scandal would die a natural death.

Or the President could just go about with the usual business of gov-ernance at the expense of an eroded socio-civic support base.

Though 10 cabinet members already resigned to their respective po-sitions last July 8, the President found a glimmer of hope to the proposal of former Pres. Fidel Ramos.

Ramos said that GMA would serve as a "caretaker" of the govern-ment for a year. During the transition period, the statesmen would transform the presidential form of government into a parliamentary one.

Countdown to CulminationWhether the President ends up

resigning, getting impeached, be-coming overthrown, or staying in the presidency depends largely on the response of the largely undecided and deeply divided middle class.

Whatever the outcome may be, it is imperative that the citizens act expediently to resolve a pressing ques-tion of leadership. For now, the ruckus continues.

In Review

AILEEN KRISTEL CHAM

In order to sustain the momentum of DLSU-Manila’s call for the resignation of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (GMA), the Ad-

ministration formed an adhoc committee that will educate and activate the Lasallian commu-nity’s “participatory mechanism” to address the pressing issues and handle upcoming activities to support the advocacy. The committee was a recommendatory body formed by Dr. Carmelita Quebengco, Executive Vice President of DLSU-Manila.

Dr. Julio Teehankee, chairperson of the Political Science Department and a committee member, said that the Philippines needed direc-tion and DLSU has risen from the middle class to the challenge through Restoring Faith in

Democracy, the stand of the Brothers. The committee is composed of representa-

tives from the Student Council (SC), Student Publications Office, Lasallian Pastoral Office (LSPO), Council of Student Organizations (CSO), Center for Social Concern and Action (COSCA), and the Marketing Communications Office. Dr. Ronaldo Mactal, chairperson of Politi-cal Science Department, heads the committee.

Ignited by brothers?The committee, with Restoring Faith in De-

mocracy serving as framework, believes that GMA has no longer the moral ascendancy to lead the country, and so it will work on activities to ask for the president’s resignation.

In a meeting conducted last July 5, Dr. Tee-hankee stated, “The ad hoc committee should sustain the framework. Now that the framework is there, let us activate the participation of the (Lasallian) community.”

The committee formulated three objectives: educate the Lasallian community on the Gloria-gate controversy; sustain the momentum of the advocacy made by the Lasallian brothers; and alli-ance building with internal and external organiza-tions who also calls for GMA's resignation.

Timetable: from planning to D-Day To concretize the special force’s objectives,

the committee set a timetable spanning July 5 to 25. The last day is the targeted schedule of GMA’s State of the Nation Address. Termed as Doom’s Day (D-Day), the committee believes this could be when GMA will respond to DLSU and other sectors’ call for her resignation.

Due to the events that transpired on July 8, the ad hoc committee held an emergency meeting that led to a human chain on July 9. An estimated 450 students and administrators including Br. Armin lined along Taft Ave. in front of DLSU. Under the blazing sun, the students wore green ribbons and said prayers for the nation. The hu-man chain called for GMA to make the "supreme sacrifice" and voluntarily relinquish power.

The advocacy kicked off last July 11 in a com-munity mass held by DLSU System President Br. Armin Luistro FSC. Notably, Br. Armin cancelled his meeting of University Presidents to be held in Thailand to focus on the GMA controversy.

Exhibits on the national crisis were also set up along Yuchengco lobby.

Sponsored by the Theological and Religious Department, Archbishop Oscar Cruz conducted a talk on jueteng last July 12.

COSCA is also conducting series of lectures in order to “provoke intelligent discussions” as suggested by Br. Armin. The center also invited Randy David and Cong. Eta Rosales, who shed

light on the issues. David and Rosales discussed the social and legal implications of GMA issue, respectively.

The Political Science Department, on the other hand, is planning to invite Sen. Panfilo Lacson, Sen. Francisco Pangilinan, and Sen. Miriam Santiago.

For the GMA Administration’s view, the committee will invite VP Noli De Castro and Senatorial President Franklin Drilon to defend the president’s side.

The committee is encouraging academic departments to consider the lecture series as alternative classes for related subjects.

To strengthen student participation, SC President Army Padilla prepared their plans which are in line with the committee’s program. The SC is already conducting a room-to-room campaign this week as a means to promote DL-SU’s advocacy.

The SC is exhausting all possible means to call for GMA’s resignation such as text messages, the Internet, and forums. The office is also re-sponsible for the creation of T-shirts, stickers, and other materials to support the University’s advocacy.

The CSO is supervising freedom walls that are installed in billboards of student organiza-tions. With this, students are free to air their views regarding the national crisis. The Political Science Organization, on the other hand, is distributing CDs of Gloriagate scandal.

Furthermore, the LSPO is including a prayer for the nation during its Angelus audio prayer every 12nn and 6pm. The Marketing Commu-nications Office, on the other hand, highlighted DLSU’s stand in the electronic billboard found at the South Gate.

The culminating activity is the Solidarity Night scheduled on July 22 at the Grandstand. The event is expected to gather all sectors from the DLSU community to pray and participate for the restoration of democracy.

With the creation of an ad hoc committee,

ITC implements authentication policy

To regulate the use of the Internet for co-academic personnel, the Operations Council ordered the Information Tech-nology Center (ITC) to implement an authentication system for computer users.

Security means?In line with the Council’s re-

quest, the new system asks for a user’s My.LaSalle user name and password before he could use the computer. The said policy aims to increase employees’ productivity to streamline IT resource utilization. Personnel usage of the In-ternet is being controlled by the ITC, allowing their accounts to be authenti-cated only at certain times.

Though the policy was intended only for co-academic personnel, stu-dents also need to comply. “We have to do that for everybody otherwise I can just choose not to enter my name and then still be able to access the Internet”, stressed Brian Co, ITC director.

Co said the ITC could monitor web sites that students visit. However, he clarified that the only people who could access it are authorized system administrators and would only access it under extraordinary circumstances.

Faster connection, smaller bandwidthIn an attempt to help students con-

nect faster to the Internet using the free dial-up account, DLSU changed its tel-ecommunications provider from East-ern Telecommunication to Philippine Long Distance Telecommunications (PLDT). However, this change resulted in a lower bandwidth connection.

With the old provider, although Internet connection takes about 10 minutes particularly from 8-11 pm students can access the Internet at 33.6 kilobits per second (kbps).

With the new dial-up number, students can only access the Internet at 28.8 kbps but takes only seconds to get connected.

Irwin Jurilla, Computer Facilities and Operations (CFO) head, said the ITC has been coordinating with PLDT for the slow bandwidth.

Students facing problems with Yahoo Messenger (YM) on their free dial-up account, can again access their YM. The problem with YM arose from protocol conflict between Yahoo! and ITC. As an alternative to YM, Co recommended Trillian, a third party application which can be downloaded by students for free.

Deans reject celebration of College Days

PAULO JOSE MUTUC

In line with the role of the Student Council (SC) to uphold the rights and welfare of students, the SC has created a Dis-cipline Office (DO) Overhaul ad hoc committee as part of Student Handbook revisions this school year. The revisions will focus on parts of Section 13 of the Student Handbook, which details disci-pline policies.

“The ad hoc c o m m i t t e e w a s formed for this (re-visions on Section 13) is a sensitive is-sue that needs high priority, time, and commitment from the officers,” stated Oliver To, SC VP for Academics.

As stated in the Legislative Assem-bly’s (LA) resolution, the DO Overhaul ad hoc committee is set to initiate a review of University directives on the Discipline Office. The structure and responsibilities of the Discipline, Enforcement and Lost and Found Sec-tions of the DO will be clarified. In addition, the jurisdiction of the Director of Discipline on disciplinary cases, and the due process received by students encountering cases will also be included in the study.

Francis Siasat, LA representative of CATCH 2T8, fur-thered that “the ad hoc committee pushes for the paradigm shift of the DO from being punitive to formative.” Instead of focusing on enforcement, the SC envisions the DO as instilling Lasallian values to uphold the mission and vision of the University.

However, guidelines regarding major and minor offenses will be outside the scope of the committee. “The STRAW

(Student Rights Awareness) Committee of the LA will be the one to ponder on the offenses”, noted To.

Led by To, the DO ad hoc committee is composed of Siasat and fellow LA Representatives Noelle Arcinue of FAST2002, Kaisie del Carmen of FAST2004, Christine Vio-

lago of FAST2004, and Karlo Dumaup of FOCUS2003.

Consultative NatureRene Hapitan, vice dean

of the College of Business and Economics, opines that the SC and DO should increase their lines of communications. Also, the vice dean believes that the SC should “come up with a working draft that is not adversarial” while “keeping in mind the vision mission” of DLSU.

To related that dialogues are being done informally after the request for interview with the DO regarding this issue was denied. According to To, the DO defended that the study is not included in the Student Handbook Revision Committee.

However, “informal in-terviews with some section

heads have taken place to get some insights and inputs from them,” To stated.

The targeted DO overhaul is not a blatant attack on the DO. Siasat believes that “the SC is simply against the injustices and the things which trample on the rights and welfare of the students or people. The SC – through the DO Overhaul – is even pushing for an improved relationship with the Discipline Office.”

Editor’s Note: The LaSallian was not able to get the side of the Discipline Office since the it is implementing a news blackout against the publication.

DONELLE GAN

No event is exempt from austerity, even celebrations. The Council of Deans (COD) recently rejected the proposal of Student Coun-

cil (SC) to maintain the celebration of College Days. It maybe recalled that last school year, the COD decided to integrate the College Days into the University week. The SC was strongly against the proposal even before.

The decision was due to the waning enthusiasm of students and the seeming overlapping of activities regarding the said celebrations, Ferrer recounted the Administration's reasons.

Under the revised proposal, one day will be allocated “for the colleges to celebrate their respective College Days, expect for the College of Science and College of Education, wherein they will celebrate their College Day at the same day since there are only five regular class days.”

Simoun Ferrer, VP-Activities, vehemently opposes the integration of the events. Ferrer asserted that “the main objective of the College Day is entirely different with that of the University Week.” While the College Day emphasizes the contributions of a college to the vision of the University, the University Week highlights the achievements of the Lasallian community as a whole. In turn, this pays tribute to the legacy of St. John Baptist de la Salle.

The SC believed that the integration of activities is an unhealthy compromise of its objectives. “It tends to lose its emphasis on creating a community that celebrates its values and its tradition of excellence.”

Furthermore, the SC argued that the integration hinders the formation of efficient activities among students. Ferrer cited the Sections 3.2.12.1-3 of the Student Hanbook regarding sponsorship. Under this section, companies may only enter the University only during the duration of event they are sponsoring.

“If integration takes place, it only implies that a company can only have an exhibit on a day since sponsorship will be exclusive to a college only,” the SC furthered. Thus, this provision can discourage companies to make a deal since they can only publicize their products for a day.

In a meeting held last July 6, the COD told Ferrer that although the Col-lege Days are to be removed from the University Calendar, the colleges have the freedom to create a commemoration day where they are free to hold their own activities. Ultimately, it is the SC's prerogative.

PHOTO BY ERIC SIY

Students "harassed" by University employee

DONELLE GANAt 7:30 in the morning, George (not his real name) went to the comfort room of the Mutien Marie Building to wash his face. A University employee approached George and nodded at him, saying, “You’re good looking, ha!”

Introducing himself as Eric, the employee requested to be the friend of George. He proceeded to ask George’s name and course, and at the end of the conversation, Eric asked, “Now that you’re my friend, can I hug you as a friend?” Sensing something bad since the rest room had only the two of them at that time, George made an excuse and hurriedly left the rest room.

George was one of four students The LaSallian interviewed who had allegedly been harassed by a University employee. The LaSallian found after some investigations that Eric was an employee at the Office of the Univer-sity Registrar and that Eric was not his real name.

The students claimed that the employee had been performing these actions for a long time, with the earliest complaints dating back from last school year and the latest happening just this month. Aside from the Mutien Marie Building, TLS gathered from the stu-dents that the incident also happened in Yuchengco Building and St. La Salle Building. According to the students, the employee’s actions ranged from looking strangely at them, to asking for their name and course, to asking if they have a class, and even to asking the cellphone number of and sending the student text greetings. The employee frequently used the “Can I hug you as a friend?” approach on the students.

An expert opinionDr. Susan Estanislao, a counselor

of the Center for Counseling and Development, believes that “Eric” has one or more of three possible personal issues. He may have an issue of power and control, wherein he develops a tendency to use his authority on people lower in level and younger than him. She believes that “Eric” also could have a lack-of-attention problem, and went out of his ways in doing such actions to obtain attention from people. The counselor stated that a homosexual ten-dency could not be dismissed as well.

Culture may well be a complicating factor in this situation, the counselor stated. Dr. Estanislao observed that in Filipino culture, it is normal for women to say to their fellow women that she looks sexy or beautiful. However, for men to say to another man that he looks handsome is a big no-no.

"Men are traditionally unemotional people and are not open to sensitive discussions. That is why it was normal for the students to have felt they have been harrassed and that their privacy was invaded," Dr. Estanislao added.

RepercussionsAlthough University Registrar

Edwin Santiago is not aware of the actions of his employee, he said that a Co-Academic Personnel (CAP) Disci-pline Board exists that could hear the case. However, the students are afraid to report the incident to the proper authorities, because they choose to avoid the employee.

PHOTO BY SHANA BANIEL

PHOTO BY CHRISTOPHER KISON

What happens if...

Errata

PHOTO BY JOSEF AARON LIM

Apathy? Lasallians formed a human chain infront of DLSU to show support on the brother's call for a supreme sacrifice.

Don't talk to strangers. Lasallians should be vigilant against the moves of "Eric".

In last month's issue, the statue that appeared in headline picture is Raha Sulayman and not Lapu-lapu. The statue is located in Roxas Blvd.

In the article DLSU ranks 16th amonng RP colleges, it was mentioned that Time Magazine conducted the survey on top Asian universities in 2002. However, the Asiaweek Magazine is the institution responsible for measuring the "world-classness" of the universities.

A Sports article also mentioned that athletes were relocated to the Lasallian Wellness Center. The original name of the dormitory is Lasallian Center. In fact, the wellness center is a discontinued program of DLSU to address poverty in the society. The LaSallian regrets these errors.

A logical forecast. Congressman Francis Escudero explained possible scenarios if ever President GMA stepped down.

ARTWORK BY IAN ROMAN

14 July 2005 2 14 July 2005 3U NIVERSITY The LaSallian U NIVERSITY The LaSallian

Taking a Stand

Paul Darwynn Garilao Jose Paolo Lacdao Luis Emmanuel De Vera

Donelle Gan Juan Carlos Chavez Earlene Clarissa Ching Jan Michael Jaudian Eric Siy Alejandro Almendras IV Kristel Kaye Chua

EDITORS IN CHIEF

MANAGING EDITOR UNIVERSITY EDITOR MENAGERIE EDITOR

SPORTS EDITOR ART & GRAPHICS EDITOR

PHOTO EDITOR

CIRCULATION MANAGER

OFFICE MANAGER

14 JULY 2005

The LaSallian has its editorial office at 502 Bro. Gabriel Connon Hall, De La Salle University, 2401 Taft Avenue, Manila 1004. TLS can be contacted through telephone number 5244611 loc. 701, or through its e-mail address, the_lasallian@yahoo.com. All contributions are subject to editing for clarity or space. None of the contents of this publication may be reprinted without the express written permission of the Editorial Board.

UNIVERSITY Joyce Anne Alfonso, Felice Ann Cariaso, Ross Vergel Delantar, Kristel Gayle Guzman, Arvin Alcanar Jo, Michelline Kuon, Paulo Jose Mutuc, Robert Royce Zuñiga

MENAGERIE Nancy Chua, Joseph Marc de Veyra, Franz Francisco Chan, Rosanna Guintivano, Angeline Martha Manuel, Anne Lorraine Ng, Mariane Lourdes Perez, Anjeli Pessumal, Karess Rubrico, Dianne Margareth Tang, Nicole Tangco

SPORTS Evelyn Chua, John de los Santos, Ivan Geoffrey Gayares, Jhoanna Kay Leal, Camille Bianca Pinto, Don Eric Sta. Rosa, Reuben Ezra Terrado, Candace Daphne Ting, Nikki Ann Mariel Tungol, Jewelynn Gay Zareno

PHOTO Christopher Kison, Aithne Jaen Lao, Dan Joseph Nable, Diane Lou Reyes, Ofelia Sta. Maria, Amanda Valenzuela

ART & GRAPHICS Patrick Joy Abanilla, Carvin Choa, Richard Rustum Gutierrez, Frank Herrera, Kenji Inukai, Kimberly Kha, Gene Carlo Magtoto, Christine Marie Mendoza, Rommel Mendoza, John Ian Roman, Gerard Philip So Chan, Charmaine Ventura

SENIOR CORRESPONDENTS Maria Michaela Ferrer, Ernestine Suzanne Teves, Meryll Anne Yan, Isabelle Regina Yujuico

STUDENT PUBLICATIONS COORDINATORS Rosanna Luz Valerio, Joel Orellana

DIRECTOR OF STUDENT PUBLICATIONS Fritzie Ian Paz-De Vera

LaSallianThe

The bastion of issue-oriented critical thinking.

Moral revolution has the greater impact to produce a righteous government.

The thought that there is nothing one can do to influence change degrades the humanity of a person.

Untitled

Moral Revolution

The Brothers enjoin us to take a stand in this national issue.

I like to believe that there are more people than we can see in TV, who believe that things could be changed for the better.

The University has made its stand.Make yours. Be heard: the_lasallian@yahoo.com

The way I see things, there is a connection between social apathy

- particularly student apathy - and spiritual apathy. I say it now, and my explanations and sidetracks follow: There is apathy because there is lack of a clear threat jeopardizing your current lifestyle or beliefs.

Way back several centuries, when Christianity was at its infancy, the Christians’ very lives were at stake. The mere act of calling on the name of the Lord had gotten many people killed. But then for the early Christians, there was a clear distinction between what was spiritually right and wrong. Either you stand up for your beliefs and die or you live, but forfeit your faith.

One group called the Anabaptists had preached the Gospel in Europe. In exchange, their members got decapitated and had their heads displayed on street posts. Some believers who died due to torture suffered extreme pain for their faith. Imagine a human being crushed at every joint by a mallet, and having his now flimsy and blood-dripping body threaded through the spokes of a wheel like an octopus and hung to die. Imagine a person hung upside down for hours (so blood rushes to the upper body) and having his groin displaced towards his torso by a wood saw (since blood is accumulated in the upper body, lesser blood is lost as the saw cuts, and the longer one suffers).

Given the situation, no Christian could profess and be apathetic. He was deeply involved in what was happening around him, because there is a threat that keeps him on his feet, completely alert and watchful.

By the way, as for the Anabaptists, their children continued to preach the Gospel. Many people were awed by this exceptional courage and converted to Christianity.

Fast forward. As the years passed by, the threat level gradually subsided from life threatening to “trivial” problems

There’s no turning back. Our very own Brothers have ignited the

sentiments of the so-called middle class as they tranquilly asked for President Arroyo’s resignation. Their stand Restoring Faith in Democracy is the first public letter, coming from an educational institution, that is published in printed media.

There are several ways to convince the President to leave Malacañang. Act like Susan Roces and appeal to the emotions, throwing screenplay lines such as “Ang Magnanakaw ay kapatid ng sinungaling.” Gather birds with the same feathers, so they can mobilize a massive flocking of wings to dethrone her from the position. But the radical procedure is performing the Roman way, in which the citizens dethroned a certain emperor and beheaded him publicly.

But the Brothers did it in a more euphemistic way. The word “resign” is a direct approach of telling GMA to step down. But the phrase “supreme sacrifice” is an honorable dismissal, indicating that the President indeed served the country greatly when she voluntarily resigned.

More than the way of expression, there is a logical reason why sectors want GMA to relinquish her powers. The Brothers and the rest of the disquieted parties stressed one principle that GMA has already deformed – moral ascendancy.

“Moral ascendancy is a critical ingredient in effective governance, and that even if she stays in office for the next five years, she will be unable to realistically command the respect of the nation,” as the brothers best described it.

Yes, GMA controversy concerns morality, a very basic lesson that is already taught among kindergarten. Our discussions of morality in RELSTRI make sense. Let’s set aside the cliché topics on morality such as masturbation, pre-marital sex, and the use of contraceptives. I guess the Gloriagate controversy is more sensational to discuss other than sex-related issue.

And what commandments did Arroyo violated: “steal our neighbor’s goods” (through the votes of other candidates) and “bear false witness to our neighbors” (through her lapse in judgment.)

***The government has already

experienced dif ferent forms of revolution such as the Spanish and American Revolutions during the old

times as well as the People Revolutions during the contemporary period. Yet, these revolutions failed simply because the citizens are just hyper-active and “obsessive-EDSA-compulsive” in dethroning a president. After the merrymaking, back to old ways…back to corrupt practices.

In instances when the government is under the clutches of immoral grounds, Atty. Jess Sison of Bangon Pilipinas believes that what we need is a moral revolution. Let’s sound political this time and formulate basic ingredients that would upraise a moral revolution. But first, let’s have a model.

Last week, I was invited to attend a seminar about the social and spiritual transformation of Manila sponsored by the Influencers Int’l. One of the speakers discussed that moral revolution is the main ingredient of Ukraine’s transformation – a country that faced severe corruption and tremendous rebellion that could have caused the division of its land. Yes, the condition of Ukraine before is as tremendous as that of our country.

Before he assumed the presidency with struggling arms, Victor Yushenko called the Ukrainians to pray as a Nation and ask for God’s divine intervention (but not in a Mike Velarde style). Yulia Tymoshenko, the prime minister of their country, has set the agenda:

“My government will not steal. My government will not receive bribes.” This program is geared towards restoring the moral ascendancy of their county.

Reflecting what happened in Ukraine, the main ingredient to ignite a moral revolution is to choose a leader like Yushenko who is a God-fearing citizen. Yet in our embattled politics, it is easier to find “god-fearing” leaders who reign among jueteng lords and drug lords.

In a way, I favor the extra-constitutional means of dethroning

GMA. Albeit it is a constitutional resort to place Noli as the state’s head, expect no-progress reforms since the same banana will rule the republic.

Sorry for a taste of endorsement but I only see Bro. Eddie Villanueva as the only candidate to fit a moral revolution. Though he lost the presidency last 2004, he is still very active in advocating for a righteous government. In my column before (March 2004), I mentioned that Bro. Eddie’s non-political background would hinder him to compromise with the vested interests of traditional politicians. Like Br. Armin, he has the credibility and integrity to cry for a righteous leadership in the land.

Disregard the suggestion of Fidel Ramos, who looks forward to the conversion of the presidential government into a parliamentary form. During a year of transition period, the influential EDSA expert told that GMA would serve as the “caretaker” of the government. There is no change in this set up.

The wolf, whom the citizens would expect them to care, is still clothed in a sheep’s clothes. We must demand for a genuine sheep to take care the government and state. I think a Bro. Eddie is a sheep who is very faithful to the will of his Shepherd.

Moral ascendancy must start on top to influence down to the bottom. With this, a righteous leader also needs righteous supporters and followers to ignite a moral revolution. These followers are the social benefactors for they are the once being served by the government. Remember that Yushenko appointed God-fearing officials like Yulia

As ideal as it may appear, the radiance of a moral living will be transmitted among the rest of the Filipino people because they will realize the economic and social reforms in the land. When it is effectuated, moral revolution has the greater impact to produce a righteous government.

***As our July i s sue i s being

distributed, the events on Gloriagate fantaserye are already culminating. Though if I parallel it in the triangle method of short stories, I can’t figure out if we are already in rising action, climax, or falling action. So expect that the news reports and analysis that we presented are also developing in the next days. But the only constant viewpoint in this issue is the rallying cry of the silent majority – the forces who call for a moral revolution.

Since Samuel Ong came out with the so-called “Mother of all Tapes”,

my friends and I have been joking that there will be no Philippines on the next time that we’ll meet. “O, susunod na lang pare!” “Kung may Pilipinas pa.” That’s how the conversation goes. Fortunately, as of press time, the Philippines is still existing. And the credit goes to PGMA and to the people who want her to step down.

Why the hell the credit should go to PGMA? First, she has managed to remain to be the president and she still has her own followers. As Amando Doronila pointed out in TV, PGMA still has three major elements that would keep her in power namely the Church, the Military, and the Businessmen. Besides, she’s still considered by most politicians as their “leader”. For these factors, the Philippines, although not united, is still existing under her.

On the other hand, the people who want PGMA out have her as the obvious reason why our country still exists. The people who rally against her for a better country are continually motivated by PGMA’s broken promises and “crimes” to the country. The people knew that there is still hope for this country. They believe that things could be changed for the better. For this, the Philippines is still existing.

Like the latter, I like to believe that there is still hope for this country. I like to believe that things – worst things – could still be changed. I like to believe that there are more people than we can see in TV, rallying in the streets, who believe that things could be changed for the better.

I find jokes like the airport now is the place to go since the Filipinos want to leave the Philippines more disturbing than funny. I am disturbed because jokes usually reflect in a lighter

way the common reaction of people to certain circumstances. In this case, the joke is saying that the Filipinos' alternative answer to the country’s problem is simply to get out of this country. In other words, they find no hope for this country anymore. They will just go to greener pastures where hope, as those people who like to leave the country believe, could be found.

I have observed that when I talk to some older people, usually from the middle class, they always say that they would like to have themselves or their children leave this country. Their reason is simple: There is no hope for this country. I guess I can’t blame if they want a better life for themselves especially for their children. But the logic is, to say that there is no hope for this country is like saying you can’t do anything for this country at all. That’s why I admire the OFWs who continually work abroad, send their hard-earned dollars back to the Philippines. Later, they would return to the homeland proud and happy. They’ve done something worthwhile for themselves, for their family, and for their country. The OFWs simply didn’t find work in this country but they did find hope for this country. They know the kind of life they could live in richer

countries, and yet they opted to return to this country.

When our class was asked to make a reflection paper out of the De La Salle Brother’s Restoring Faith in Democracy, I wrote that the DLS Brothers saw that there is still hope for this country. In fact, they are trying to share to other people that there is still hope for this country. I believe that the DLS Brothers, as teachers, are also trying to tell not just to Lasallians but also to other students as well to remain hopeful and act to the political crisis.

Hoping is like praying. When you hope you expect that something good will happen. When you pray, you ask that something good will happen and in a way you’re also expecting it to happen. But both won’t get you to the good thing if you won’t act.

***Two weeks ago, I got to read one of

Sin City’s series, That Yellow Bastard. I really admired Frank Miller’s art style and storytelling skill. However, what I really appreciated was the fact that Frank Miller showed that hope still existed in Sin City. He made us believe that people who still abide by what is just and right exist.

After reading the comic book, I had the thought that we live in a country like Sin City. Corrupt politicians with their family run the country. Crime and demoralization are abundant. However, just like “Mr. by-the-book” Hartigan, there are people who live by what is just and right. They are those who continue to bring hope to this country.

***It's amazing to note how the

UAAP draws crowds. It amazes me that there seems to be more people involved with it than what is happening to our country. Anyway, as we enjoy, let's not forget that there's still a country to think of.

of interpretation. Now, Satan attacks Christians with the weapon called subtlety. Sins are sugarcoated to look innocent, but inside are rotten as ever. This happens because the evil image has been whittled down to look docile and harmless. Sometimes, blatantly bad things are made to look as not that bad. Not going to Church is excusable because you are busy. Anyway, you can make up by cutting down on your sins the next week. Viewing pornography is alright because it’s a sign of manhood. Besides, it may help you in your future relationship.

Although Satan is busy chopping you down, it’s hard to see because the immediate threats are not there, only the long term ones. Most often, people only realize when they have sunk deep into the quicksand, but from there, it’s hard to recover.

In the same way, I think that issues in the University have always been whittled down to look harmless to the student body. The fact that an ordinary student could not identify any campus issue that can significantly affect his life as a Lasallian is proof. Although the issues are there, they have not been presented to him as something he SHOULD know about.

Swing over to the national picture. Any public official who has said sorry (it’s safe to assume that you say sorry after doing something bad), and yet acts as if that “bad” thing is not that “bad”

to merit a punishment (resignation should only be the beginning) should be immediately questionable.

In GMA’s case, her promise to atone for her “lapse in judgment” by working doubly hard is a rip-off of a child’s excuse of studying harder after she failed in a test to avert being spanked by her parents. If I was the parent, I would not buy this excuse – my child should be punished – because this is how love works.

Some students do not care about the issue because of the fact that it seems there is nothing he can do. The issue is distanced from the students: students don’t think their lives could be directly affected. In effect, students are tolerating GMA’s lapses in judgment.

Using the religious argument, this is exactly what Satan wants: tolerance of sins for more sins to pile upon. In fact, why corruption crept up to the top ranks of government is because seemingly nonessential faults in the grassroots level of government were tolerated. Mere “cutting of corners” as Br. Armin said, like our sometimes not following traffic regulations.

Lastly, the thought that there is nothing one can do to influence change degrades the humanity of a person. Are Lasallian students, professors and administrators fully human?

* * *I wonder why professors whose

forte is supposed to be improving efficiency could not handle a quiz efficiently. X comes to the test site 15 minutes late, and suffers from the seeming misfortune of having insufficient test papers to distribute to students. Another 15 minutes is shaved off the 90 minute exam. Was the test extended? No. What’s intriguing was X’s final comment made during the last minutes of the essentially 60 minute exam, and it went something like this: you can always guess the answer. Speaks a lot about how some professors see students.

Hopefollowing that speech.PGMA’s apology is just the tip of the iceberg as far as the issue is

concerned. More questions about last year’s elections have been raised. The President claims that she committed that “lapse in judgment” in an attempt to protect her votes, but how unlawful was such an act? Would such an act already undermine the results of an already controversial election?

Allegations of massive electoral fraud also need to be investigated. Does the tape really prove that she tried to exercise undue influence over the outcome of the elections? Is there truth to allegations that votes were rigged in favor of the Administration? The President failed to cover many questions regarding the election in her speech. Are the election results even valid?

Of course, the allegations that the First Family is also involved in the jueteng payola must not be forgotten. Is it true that the family is getting kickbacks off illegal gambling? Who are the other government officials involved in numbers gaming?

These are issues that cannot be taken lightly. There is much to ascertain about the legitimacy of the presidency, more questions that have been opened following that admission. And in all this, where is the commissioner that PGMA talked to? What would he/she have to say about the previous elections?

We need to investigate the activities of the President at length in order to determine whether or not she is at fault. It may prove detrimental in the short term to put another president under trial, but the truth must come out to keep the integrity of the Filipino society. Questions must be answered.

In line with this, we are one with the University in calls for “the President to the supreme sacrifice of surrendering personal want, comfort, and position.” Allow constitutional means to replace the presidency.

The outcome of any investigations might be compromised if they were to take place with the President still in office. The President must step down and put herself under scrutiny. And of course, allegations must be answered. The truth must be found out, and appropriate sanctions against those who will be found guilty must be pursued.

Many people fear that no person may be able to give the presidency the integrity that it should have and thus reject calls for the President’s resignation. We are not after who will run the government following Arroyo’s presidency, but instead, we are looking for the rest of the government to be responsible enough to enact the reforms that would set it back on the right track. We will need a president that has political will, proper conviction, and moral ascendancy, but we should not fall into the trap of keeping the current president because we want to take the lesser evil. Such thinking reflects that we accept the ills of society instead of acting swiftly and decisively in making the lives of Filipino better.

The legitimacy of the presidency is in question, and it threatens to explode catastrophically if not acted upon immediately. We must immediately seek out the truth and reform the political system. This kind of political behavior must not repeat itself. We must act now.

We call on the President to voluntarily step down in order to allow the society to heal itself.

The Grade Six kids I am handling as part of my practicum seem to

know better than other Filipinos.I made one of my Computer

c lasses create a PowerPoint presentation about a public figure in an examination I gave them. They had four choices: Sharon Cuneta, Manny Pacquiao, Piolo Pascual, and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. I provided an article and a few pictures for each personality.

Of a class of 17, two chose Sharon, two Piolo, and the rest went Manny. There were just about as many girls as boys in this class. Yes, even the girls took on the boxing hero. One actually tried working on PGMA but switched midway. This despite the fact that I thought the article on the President was easiest to use, as it was just her inaugural speech along with some biographical details.

When I asked why no one chose to create a presentation about the President, they just laughed.

* * *These days, it seems that the President is popular for all the wrong

reasons.The accusations that have been leveled against her aren’t light. She and

the first family have been accused of being involved in payola off illegal gambling, and worse, electoral fraud. Such have put the legitimacy of her presidency in question.

PGMA’s methods of addressing the issues against her have only served to fuel greater suspicion. Everyone remembers Mike Arroyo’s brother Congressman Iggy Arroyo coming out to claim that he is the owner of the Jose Pidal account, the mysterious account which Senator Panfilo Lacson originally attributed to the First Gentleman. That issue died down after a lot of “right to privacy” statements and a wiretapped conversation between PGMA and a Comelec official emerged.

It took a while before the President spoke about that tape, leaving only Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye’s claim that the conversation was spliced from an original CD. That proved to be a huge blunder (not to mention a lie) later on when the President admitted to the nation last June 27 that it was indeed her voice on the tape. PGMA claimed that she was only protecting her votes. However, her speech seemed lawyer-prepared and tailored to be safe. Her words only raised more questions and put in doubt her sincerity.

There is little surprise then that different sectors of society are now asking her to step down.

* * *When the De La Salle Brothers came out with the Lasallian Family

Statement, it took everyone by surprise.Media outlets played it as a political statement from an educational

institution not known for being a political voice. Malacañang dismissed the statement, while the Opposition has been leveraging off it. Everyone is looking in our direction and asking why De La Salle came out with the statement. Within the University, others are coming out with their own positions, while others question why we have a position. In particular, I’ve heard students ask why they were not consulted about the stand.

I would like to start by saying that it would be physically impossible to consult a large group of students (or other members of the Community, for that matter) before coming out with such a position. That may sound like a stupid way of arguing, but it’s true. It would also take too much time, something that we do not have in this time of urgency. Leaders take calculated risks, such as the one Br. Armin took on with this decision.

But such is not the point of the Lasallian Family Statement. When they came out with the stand, the Brothers did not intend to force it onto the minds of everyone within the Lasallian community. Such is clear when you look at the fact that a few De La Salle schools chose not to be included in the document.

Upon closer inspection, one will also notice how open-ended the whole message sounds. Yes, it calls PGMA’s resignation, but only as a means of being able to quickly initiate reforms to restore the integrity of our political system. The last part of the document is most telling: the Brothers ask us to think about the current situation as well. I can see that they want us to gather information, be guided by the Holy Spirit in reflection, and make our own judgments.

* * *The Lasallian Family Statement represents the Brothers’ thoughts on

the current national situation. Although it has been seen as the De La Salle community’s stand on the issues surrounding the president, it is by no means the only opinion that we should adapt. The Brothers are presenting it to us as a framework by how we can come up with our personal positions on the matter.

Various sectors of the University, such as the Student Council and COSCA, have already taken their positions on the issue. The University as a whole is looking to solidify its position as well, something that might have slight differences with the Brothers’ document. Thing is, the Brothers are allowing that we come up with our own opinions on the matter. We are not necessarily bound to what they have already said.

The message is clear here: the Brothers enjoin us to take a stand in an issue such as this. They acted with such urgency because it was apparent to them that people needed to respond to Filipino society’s next greatest threat. They are asking us to formulate our own stands, and will respect it if we were to take a contradictory position. They want us to break our passiveness and actually believe in something.

Some of you might think that taking up a stand would prove insignificant. One of the chief faults of today’s society is that it has forced us to work for survival and be less mindful of other things that matter. The Brothers are teaching us the value of having an opinion. We might end up believing in something that ends poorly, but it matters for as long as we believed in something. We should have a cause in our lives, something that we all would fight for, such as a better political system.

FROM EDITORIAL, PAGE 1

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14 July 2005 4 14 July 2005 5O P I N I O N The LaSallian O P I N I O N The LaSallian

The Merging trendLetter to the Editor Sowing of Discord

Philippine politics has never been a question of “Who cheats?” but rather, of “Who gets caught?”

More equal than others

Editor’s note: In the June issue of The LaSallian, the Uni-versity section featured the discussions on possible merging of departments that has been a trend in the University. In this second part, The LaSallian presents an analysis of the rationale behind the merging of departments.

The merger is a complex process, entailing the analysis of several aspects of the academe and sometimes of external conditions. DLSU is in a continuous proc-

ess of evolution, Dr. Carmelita Quebengco, Executive Vice President of DLSU Manila, stressed.

Dr. Quebengco believes that although nothing seems wrong in a college or a department, there is always a way of improving how these University portions operate. Continu-ously challenging the status quo enables the University to move forward and facilitate its growth.

In the academic context, merger is one option of the Administration to achieve development and operate more efficiently. Mergers are frequently floated in Administra-tion meetings with the six colleges from college-level to department-level combinations. Example of the former is the College of Engineering (COE) and College of Com-puter Studies (CCS) merging issue, while the latter is the possible combination of Mechanical Engineering (MEE) and Manufacturing Engineering and Management (MEM) departments.

International trendsUniversities abroad are very open to possibilities of

merging, not just at the college or departmental level, but with other universities as well. Dr. Allan Bernardo, former VP for Academics and Research, stated before that merging issues in the University follow the international trend. Since DLSU benchmarks international universities, the issue on merging is one of its considerations.

Several successful university mergers have already oc-curred offshore. As an example, the University of Manches-ter and University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST) have merged to become The Uni-versity of Manchester, the largest university in the United Kingdom. The two universities agreed to be dissolved and merge themselves into a 30,000 student-strong university. Touted to be UK’s “super-university,” the University of Manchester aims to be among the world’s 25 best research institutions.

Merging serves to boost the universities’ research capa-bilities, one of the precursors of a “good university.”

In a study done by J.C. Verhoeven of the Centre for Sociology of Education in Belgium, universities merge due to financial impetus, simpler control, financial stability, ac-countability, internationalization and scientific research, and social service provision. Sharing resources

Colleges or departments merge in order to share their strengths. In the international scenario, the geological sciences and geography departments of the University of Memphis, as well as its Center for Earthquake Research and Information have merged into a single department called the Department of Earth Sciences.

The rationale for the merger was that the expertise of the two departments would be combined to serve the com-munity and advance both teaching and research.

Generally, merging involves departments that have a

substantial commonality of academic interests. This was in fact the rationale behind the merging of Literature and Filipino Departments five years ago. Both departments were expected to advance studies in Philippine Literature, although the merging was discontinued.

The same is true with the exploratory merging of MEM and MEE, since the two programs share commonality in the field of mechatronics, controls engineering, and engi-neering design.

The Belgian study also noted that departments once merged could learn from each other in the form of in-terdepartmental projects among others. Also, improved availability of staff could be attained while providing for growth of facilities.

Cutting costsAccording to an article published in The Guardian, lack

of funding is one strong reason for merging. “Through years of inadequate funding, standards have fallen and our (British universities) competitive edge is fading rapidly. If we are to compete successfully as a nation in the knowledge-based economy, it is essential that our top universities are able to compete effectively on a global stage,” the article articulated.

When departments or colleges merge, administrative savings are realized because only one administrator will oversee the two departments.

Moreover, subjects that are taught previously by two differing departments would be taught by just one depart-ment. This saves the departments both effort and money. Dr. Jaime Ong, Marketing Management Department chair-person, observed that because various departments teach the same subject like Mathematics, operations would be made more efficient by centralizing the teaching of related subjects under one department.

Verhoeven observed in his study that departments keep superfluous personnel of other departments. While this scenario is harmful to smaller departments, a larger or a merged department would grant more allowance for these additional faculty members.

Clash of ideologies Oftentimes, mergers are met with opposition from the

departments while facing more positive outlooks from the Administration.

Verhoeven gathered from interviewing merged col-leges that the Administration and the department shared contrasting views after the mergers. While the top claimed expansion of facilities, the staffs do not believe so. The staffs also disagreed with the top’s statement that more resources have been given to them.

Merging would also result to clash of cultures. The speculated merging of Business Management (BMG) De-partment and Marketing Management (MMG) Department has alarmed some faculty members. A professor commented that BMG is conservative in treating business principles, while the MMG is leaning towards liberalism in order to foster creativity in marketing and advertising.

With respect to work, the staff also voiced their disap-pointment. Lesser participation in decision making at the departmental level and lack of solidarity between merged departments seemingly defeat the purpose of merging. The possibility of the larger department dominating the smaller one can never be dismissed.

YFC to launch Green Archer Village

Through Gawad Kalinga (GK), DLSU will launch the first ever Green Archers Village starting the second term of this school year at Baseco Compound. Greg Mercado, DLSU GK Chairman, together with the Student Council (SC), will conduct several activities to promote the project around campus. This has been institutionalized as a project of the Student Council (SC) for the next five years under the Office of the President.

Gawad KalingaFive years ago, Couples for Christ realized that when it comes to helping

the poor, they need to be empowered. The group started GK as a way to uplift the lives of the poor, instilling in them values aside from building their houses. GK is a movement to rebuild the Philippines with a vision of a new nation, free of slum, violence and poverty. GK builds low cost – worth only 50000 pesos – yet beautiful houses and grants them freely to benefactor families. However, the benefiting family should help build his neighbors’ houses.

With that, the essence of a community started to emerge resulting in a zero crime rate for the first village. “People would no longer steal or fight from each other because how can you steal from your neighbor when he helped build your house.” With the tremendous result of the first GK village, GK 777 was launched nationwide last 2003 as a new project to build 700,000 houses in 7 years time. Moreover, the group has forged partnerships with the government, non-government organizations, private sectors, educational institutions, Filipinos in this country and abroad, and even foreigners who believe in GK.

Green Archers VillageGK was first introduced to DLSU through Youth For Christ (YFC) and

then became a community service option for RELSTRI students in 2003. As GK chairman, Mercado’s vision for DLSU is to share the GK vision to every LaSallian and get them involved, not only students but administrators and alumni as well. By the end of this year, the project is expected to build a minimum of 50 houses in the Green Archers Village.

The Baseco compound caught fire last 2003 leaving 2500 families home-less. So far, only 800 houses have been rebuilt. Tony Meloto, founder of GK, wants DLSU to adopt Baseco for he envisions DLSU’s response to GK to be big. The University would be able to help more in Baseco as it is a national symbol for poverty in the Philippines. Mercado plans to have the first village built by second term and by the succeeding term expects all the organizations in DLSU to launch their own projects.

Within five years, the plan is to build a minimum of 1000 houses and within those houses every single college should have contributed something. By that time, the College of Education should have at least built pre-schools. The College of Business and Economics should have established livelihood programs or start businesses within the community where people would be able to find jobs.

The College of Computer Studies should have built an IT network where village students can obtain basic computer training. “I believe since the La Sallian vision is to become achievers for God and Country, by embracing the GK vision and being a part of it, we are actually living out its vision,” stressed Mercado. “This is going to be our way that we can get involved in helping the poor in the Philippines and most importantly building the nation.”

SC clarifies CRADLE, Feedback System

SECOND OF TWO PARTS

AILEEN KRISTEL CHAM

The Offices of the VP-Academics (OVP-Acad) and VP-Operations and Communications (OVP-OPEC) of the Student Council (SC) are currently preparing their projects that will take the university’s curriculum review and information dissemination to the next level.

Evaluating the Standards of Education One of the SC’s main thrusts is to “ensure a holistic, competitive education of high standards” that will help develop

Lasallians to address national needs. Oliver To, VP-Academics, on this effort launched the Curriculum Review for Academic Development of the Lasallian Education (CRADLE). This project seeks to study course flow and subjects students take.

The committee plans to hold a university-wide survey to determine which subjects students find difficult, after which selected subjects will be analyzed. Target participants in this course review are senior and terminal students as they are near graduation and their opinions can be used as bases for the review. Focus Group Discussions will also be held to help students understand some courses they have to study. Organization presidents of major courses as well as the College Assembly Presi-dents will be invited to help solve the cases encountered by the Board.

As the committee is composed only of students, To admits that there might be some flaws in the project. Moreover, he accepts that the members lack in-depth understanding of academic curricula. However Simone Rodriguez, head of CRADLE, attested that being a member does not need to have the ability to analyze or review the course flow, as long as one has the dedication to serve the studentry.

Hearing the side of the students “Service for the Students, Reaching the Students,” is the thrust of the OVP-OPEC. Led by Andrea Go, VP-Operations,

the SC plans to establish the SC Feedback and Coordinating System, which aims to give information to Lasallians as well as to acquire feedback. However, the university already has the DLSU Wireless Information Services (WISe), which assists students through the use of text messaging to avail information on various DLSU services such as giving the exam schedules and directories.

Nonetheless, Go explained that the difference of the Feedback System from DLSUWISe is that the Feedback System will provide students the announcements of academic concerns which are not provided by DLSUWISe such as university activities and schedules of dropping subjects. Furthermore, Go assures that there will be no overlapping of the services the two systems are informing.

As of press time, the SC is still working to build partnerships with the Administration to get support for the multimedia channels project. According to Go, Br. Armin Luistro, FSC signifies his support towards these plans.

DONELLE GAN

JOYCE ANNE ALFONSO

Community project. Students are expected to build hundreds of houses for the less fortunate. PHOTO COURTESY OF GAWAD KALINGA

Pops Orchestra on Spotlight…AgainDo you want to hear only the very best music has to offer?

The De La Salle University Pops Orchestra, the first and only pop orches-tra in the country, breaks down all barriers as it belts out tunes approved and recognized by the major award-giving bodies, including the Grammy Awards and our very own Awit Awards, in a very special concert.

The concert, dubbed “Spotlight: The Repeat,” will be held at the Teresa Yuchengco Auditorium on July 27, from 1:00 to 2:30 pm. It will feature rendi-tions of select award-winning songs from OPM, rock, pop, the movies, R&B and dance---something for every musical ear, as only the DLSU Pops Orchestra can bring. Tickets will sell at the very reasonable price of PhP75 each.

The DLSU Pops Orchestra is the only Cultural Arts Office (CAO) performing group to have performed at the Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), on its 20th anniversary concert in 2003. The organization began as the DLSU Marching Band for the University’s Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC). With the arrival of present conductor Maestro Eliezer San Felipe, and the addition of the Rhythms and Strings sections, it became the DLSU Concert Band. In 1997, after further growth and accommoda-tion of a Vocals section, it was rechristened as the DLSU Pops Orchestra.

Aside from the CCP, the DLSU Pops Orchestra has performed in various locales around the Philippines such as Malabon, Bacolod City in Negros Oc-cidental, Las Piñas City and Iloilo City. Last year it had a concert tour of the different malls in Metro Manila such as Shangri-La Plaza in Mandaluyong and Glorietta 4 in Makati as part of the “No Fakes” anti-piracy concert series of the Philippine Association of the Record Industry (PARI).

You can count on the DLSU Pops Orchestra reprising their campus and mall tours once again for 2005, as well as staging another recital entitled “Re-discovering Jazz” in mid-October.

Press Release

“Our library closes at 11 in the evening. But during exam weeks, the university keeps the library open till 2 in the morning.” Wow. My cousin was explaining why we were going to the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) at 10 pm during the summer vacation. She had to get notes and some books from her University account she needed to study for her Chemistry test.

But our University Library is a different environment. Our school closes at 10 p.m. The library closes a few hours before students are literally shooed away from the University grounds.

In the UNLV library, there are hundreds of computers scattered all over the first floor. But the second up to the fifth floor were all piled with mountains of books. “No biggie.” I thought. Then, she brought me to the international readings section. I was amazed to see around 20 books from the Philippines, and probably hundreds (or thousands) of other books from Asia alone. They had a copy of the Doctrina Cristiana, some Bisaya-Tagalog-English translation books, and research papers about Philippine literature.

Our library has a great selection of books and searching for them is breeze. The only factor that limits the selection of books might be the area of the library, which may take some time before they may expand.

As we went down the stairs back down to the first floor, I couldn’t help but admire the glass and steel architecture that made the library as bright as a mall.

Imagine a world class university with wires coming out of the walls, overhead projectors that die after 10 minutes when you turn them on, and loose ceiling tiles that dance whenever it rains.

My cousin logged in a computer with her 12-digit ID number and password. Right after, she obtained her notes from the Internet and saved them in a folder that was connected to the

Mr Jose Paolo LacdaoCo-Editor-in-ChiefThe LaSallian Dear Paolo, Peace!I am addressing this e-mail to you since it is you whom I know personally,

but please feel free to share my thoughts with all our campus journalists at The LaSallian.

I would like to express my appreciation to Mr Paulo Jose Mutuc for the article, “COS, DEAL tutor maritime frosh” (page 3, TLS, 10 June 2005).

My congratulations to you for the insightful ATYPICAL column, “The great dilemma” (page 5, TLS, 10 June 2005). By asking us, and I quote your first sentence of paragraph 11, “What implications does it (the high school students’ low scores in English, Math, and Science) hold for DLSU?”, you have challenged the academic community of the University to look beyond what is happening “within the walls” of DLSU-Manila and to focus on current realities in Philippine society. Truly, the sad state of Philippine education is something that we, as an institution, should look into. Since we carry with us the name of the Patron Saint of Teachers, we should be at the forefront of educational reforms in our country.

The 10 June 2005 issue of TLS highlighted the Student Council’s call for greater transparency. The LaSallian’s editorial, “Remove the blindfold” (page 4, TLS, 10 June 2005), states, “Now, can this plan be pursued in DLSU-Manila, a University where accessing of student-related records is no walk in the park? In fact, campus journalists and student leaders find it difficult to access financial statements, discipline records, and other pertinent files in the University.” (paragraph 3). I would like to invite the editors of The LaSallian to borrow a copy of The President’s Report - DLSU System from the Archives section of our University Library. DLSU-Manila’s financial statement, duly audited and certified by Carlos Valdez and Associates, may be found in the accompanying volume of the report. When it comes to doing research, I always tell my students, “do your homework, diligently”. And to paraphrase the Gospel of Matthew, “ask (politely) and it shall be given unto you”. As for discipline records, I will be more than happy to share with you statistics on the number of minor and major offenses committed by our freshmen and upperclass students. These data are shared by the Discipline Director with the Vice Deans during our ORIENT Central Committee monthly meetings. The committee makes use of these data to determine the programs that should be undertaken to minimize the number of offenses our students incur. Just out of curiosity, may I know what “other pertinent files in the University” the editorial is referring to?

The article “CCTV cameras installed despite SC opposition” (page 1, TLS, 10 June 2005) reports that “The SC believes that this undertaking is an irony to the Administration’s upholding of austerity measures” (paragraph 3). The estimated cost of the Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras, as reported in the article “SC calls for greater transparency” (page 1, TLS, 10 June 2005), is “around one million pesos” (paragraph 2). A few months back, TLS reported multimedia (LCD) projectors being stolen from classrooms at the Miguel and Gokongwei buildings. The College of Science is taking pro-active and preventive steps to ensure the safety of our research equipment. The college, through our Dean, Dr. Gerardo Janairo, has requested that security cameras be installed within the vicinity of the Molecular Science Research Laboratory (second floor, STRC building) and the vicinity of the second floor of SJ building where our High Performance Computing Laboratory is housed. These safety measures are being taken by the college to ensure the continued use of the research equipment by our science students and faculty members. I invite the editors of TLS to approach the laboratory coordinators of the four departments of the College of Science (Dr. Irene Samonte, Biology; Ms. Julita Robles, Chemistry; Dr. Ederlina Nocon, Math; and Mr. Gil Nonato Santos, Physics) [and also perhaps the College of Engineering lab coordinators] and request from them the cost of the research equipment (mostly grants from external funding agencies) stationed at the research laboratories at STRC, SJ building, and Velasco hall. [Dr. Irene, Ma’am Lita, Dr. Lynn, Sir Noni, please accommodate students’ request for interview]. The cost of putting-up the security system (as a pro-active stance) will be more cost-efficient rather than have the research equipment stolen, then replaced.

Moving on to student enrolment, an issue very close to my heart, as this is one of my major tasks as Vice Dean of the College of Science. In the article, “Adjustment difficulties continue to haunt students” (page 2, TLS, 10 June 2005), may I know the reason why Mia needed to adjust? She is, as the article described, “a CBE student (who) has been lining up since 5:30 in the morning to obtain a number card distributed at 7:00 a.m. that would allow her to adjust. She was able to adjust six hours later.” With regard to the question raised by Mr. Oliver To, “Why is there a need to pay for reprinting of EAF and late adjustment fee?” (paragraph 11), the University Enrolment committee, where a duly-elected SC officer sits as a regular member, has discussed this matter year-in and year-out. But allow me to share my thoughts on this issue… Students who are able to finish encoding their needed subjects during regular online enrolment period (week 10) do not need late adjustment. Students who encounter problems during online enrolment are advised to immediately see their Vice Dean or College Academic Assistant. Should a student fail a course, the regular adjustment period is scheduled before the trimester begins. Students whose class(es) is (are) dissolved are advised to see their Vice Dean or College Academic Assistant and the necessary updates are made. EAFs are reprinted without paying any fees. Thus, except for students’ own convenience I see no reason why a student needs to do late adjustment (and in doing so, pay the late adjustment fee). If a student does not want to pay the late adjustment fee, then the solution is simple, do not adjust.

In closing, please extend my congratulations to the staff of the Sports section of TLS. The feature on this year’s rookies allowed the Lasallian community to get to know our Lasallian athletes. The feature story on baseball player Bacchus Ledesma is inspiring. Congratulations, too, to Donelle Gan (FUZZY LOGIC, “Grab the wheels”, page 5, TLS, 10 June 2005) for making it to the semifinal round of the Algorithm category of Imagine Cup, an on-line global competition sponsored by Microsoft. The article on Dr. Gaspillo’s NAST accolade (page 1, TLS, 10 June 2005) and the story about our Lady Spiker’s leading the Shakey’s V-league with a clean slate (page 12, TLS, 10 June 2005) made me proud that I am a Lasallian. I look forward to The LaSallian highlighting stories about the accomplishments of our students and faculty members.

Finally, we may have to consult an English teacher on this… at the bottom

A good researcher does not necessarily mean to be a good teacher.

library’s computer network. She took me to the other side of the library where she started to open the files in another computer. This computer prompted my cousin to input her ID number and password. The files opened and she clicked PRINT. There was a machine right next to me that looked like an ATM but with a big hole instead of a screen.

All of a sudden, papers began to stack up inside the hole. The papers were my cousin’s notes. The printing looks like a bill counting machine of a bank. The printing also accelerated, probably 3 pages per second. This is another service that we do not have yet.

In our situation, students run into printing stores along Taft or Medrano Hall, which is a power walk away from William Hall. If the library offered printing services, can you imagine how much time students would save?

As we left, my cousin showed me the self-service photocopying machines. She explained that her ID was also used as a “credit card”. She can photocopy through the use of his ID. There are vendo-like machines littered all over their campus, where students could load their ID with money to pay for services such as printing and photocopying.

Had enough? Well, it’s amazing that their library is more advanced than ours. Ironically, UNLV is not considered a world-class university, despite its student-friendly and up-to-date facilities.

Our library provides great services, but looking at the library of a not self-proclaimed world class university like UNLV, we have a long way to go before we can catch up to them. Why should we be world class if we have not yet overtaken the “normal” I’m-not-world-class universities in US?

Overemphasis is the operative word. Professor Philip G. Altbach from the Center for International Higher Education at Boston College gives a statement about a university that is so much overdosed to attain the world-class status. "Overemphasizing attaining world-class status may harm an individual university or an academic system. It may divert energy and resources from more important--and perhaps realistic--goals. It may focus too much on building a research-oriented and necessarily elite university as the expense of expanding access or serving national needs. It may set up unrealistic expectations that harm faculty morale and performance."

DLSU-M wants to turn individuals into Christian achievers for God and country. Seriously, if DLSU wants to achieve a world class status by increasing its faculty research output and training students to active thinkers rather than passive learners, I hope that our curriculum doesn’t stray away from turning the students into Christian Achievers. Take note: Christian achievers not Christian researchers. Although DLSU-M considers faculty research as an important aspect, the university should not concentrate on this undertaking.

Even if all the faculty members publish articles in journals, this doesn’t follow that their students will be as successful as them. A good researcher does not necessarily mean to become a good teacher. Our teachers should not treat jobs in our university just as a jobs. Teaching, no matter where you are teaching, is a vocation. Turning DLSU-M into a world class university is not impossible but most likely, it won’t be happening anytime soon.

SEE LETTER , PAGE 10

Four years. It’s been only four years since we witnessed Erap’s not-so-honorable eviction from Philippine presidency. Four years since Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo fast-tracked to power. Four years. And now, the tables have turned.

Once again, another revolution is brewing and the nation is once more in that all-too-familiar state of political, economic, and social turmoil. In fact, I won’t be surprised if by the time you read this, our country’s status quo might already have experienced a major blow to its solar plexus.

When GMA confirmed that she is indeed that garbled voice who brought “Hello, Garci” to the top of mobile ringtone charts, developments have been unfolding faster than last-minute rewrites in a cheap telenovela script. Gloria’s straight-faced apology (understandably) drew several mixed reactions from every thinkable sector of Philippine society. To her supporters (most of which would eventually defect), it was a brave and honorable move. Dinky Soliman even had the sudden propensity to serenade her with that cheesy Land Before Time theme just moments after her televised confession.

But to her ever-growing dog pound of detractors, it was clearly a different story. Several cynics criticized that although President Arroyo her “lapse of judgment”; she still evaded allegations regarding electoral fraud,. Who can forget Susan Roces snapping back “You have stolen the presidency, not ONCE, but TWICE!” sounding like some deranged Lionel Richie.

N o w, t h e f a c t i o n t h a t i s encumbering our nation has grown even wider. We have Cory Aquino, the DLSU system, and 10 recently evicted Cabinet members asking her to make

that ultimate sacrifice. On the other hand, she also has

acquired her fair share of allies. We have former President Fidel V. Ramos expressing his support and pushing for Charter Change. And just now, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has declared that they do not desire GMA’s resignation and are campaigning for her to go through due process.

And now that I’ve weighed both sides of the coin, I just want to share that while a huge chunk of DLSU’s population is rallying for GMA’s voluntary resignation, I still beg to differ. While I am not necessarily pro-GMA, I am, for sure, anti-destabilization.

Sure, there is enough uproar brought about by the wiretapping issue, the jueteng scandals, the impending expanded value-added tax (e-VAT) law, and the ever-fluctuating peso-dollar exchange rates. But if GMA does step down, what is the assurance that another prematurely-elected president will erase all that?

Right now, we can go on discussing prospective replacements. But is that really what our country needs? I don’t

think so. I am not discounting the possibility that GMA cheated during the May 2004 Elections. But come to think of it, who doesn’t cheat? Philippine politics, hands down, has never been clean. Hands down. It has never been a question of “Who cheats?” but rather, of “Who gets caught?”

I believe that the problem here does not rest alone on GMA or her alleged dishonesty. The problem here lies with those self-righteous finger-pointers who try to sow discord with their barefaced opportunism.

It doesn’t take an archaeologist to decipher the real score. Comments such as, “Sorry is not enough” and “We are looking for honest leaders” only affirm the unbridled hypocrisy that our politicians have been imposing on our already-burdened republic since God-knows-when.

We’ve toppled presidents before, but it can’t always be that way. Two revolutions within 20 years is enough. Seeking another only will not only continue this vicious cycle, but it will also reflect our escapism. In my opinion, what our country needs is to unite, not to seek the downfall of another leader. We have to be productive, not destructive. Like what my RELSFOR professor said in one of his lectures, “Before thinking of changing our leaders, we (Filipinos) must first change the way we think.”

We don’t need another sequel to People Power for our country to undergo radical change. What we need is to learn from our mistakes and move forward. We need to be support our government by being proactive in our own special little ways. Otherwise, our country will continually be one step closer to oblivion.

14 July 2005 6 14 July 2005 7O P I N I O N The LaSallian U NIVERSITY The LaSallian

The recent success of Alyansang Tapat sa Lasallista (Tapat) in garnering all Executive Board (EB) posts at last year’s General Elections is nothing new;having accomplished the

same feat in 1987, 1990, 1994, 1995, and 1997. What can history reveal about this phenomenon?

1987: Ric Aguas and the “nationalistic” SCRicardo Aguas Jr. was at the helm of Tapat’s first-ever EB sweep

almost two decades ago. Elected amidst a time of great change inside (the idea of a research university) and outside (coup at-tempts against the Aquino government) DLSU, Aguas’ presidency revolved around the vision of a “nationalistic SC’ and a “militant and uncompromising” stand on student rights.

In the end, Aguas and company reaped mixed results. While they were able to initiate efforts to legislate the Magna Carta for Students and jumpstart the Tuition Fee Research Committee, the SC failed to completely avert the imposition of an aircon purchasing cost and a high tuition fee increase. Its opposition to the construction of the PGP Chapel and SJ Walk were also in vain. And while regular meetings with the Board of Trustees were forwarded by the former as a compromise, the plan – along with any possible gains – never took off. An underachievement overall, considering the mandate students awarded Tapat that year (only one of all elected was not from the party).

1990: Omar MercadoThere was never a lack of activity within and without the

University when Jose Omar Mercado assumed the SC Presidency. Numerous construction projects, uncertainty regarding the infant autonomy of the College of Saint Benilde (CSB), fund use for a controversial administrative project termed the Integrated Modu-lar Program for Advanced Computer Training (IMPACT) were the most pressing issues in DLSU during the height of debate on American bases in Central Luzon.

Unfortunately, the Tapat leaders failed to break new ground. While the SC indeed made its position clear on a host of matters (tuition hikes, the IMPACT anomaly, US intervention on domestic affairs) and commendably put forward plans for a “student refuge center” amid the Pinatubo and earthquake disasters, very little was achieved with regard to student welfare. Ironically, a new dress code was put in effect on the advent of Mercado’s election with

the approval of student leaders.

Back to Back and Back AgainA decade after its reorganization, Tapat managed to pull off

back to back EB sweeps with Amparo Rio (1994) and Vince Dizon (1995) as SC Presidents. Paraphrasing Aguas’ insight, Rio sought an SC genuinely “pro-student and pro-people”. A draft of the Students Charter, the Activities Monitoring Board, and the Council of Leaders were the outcomes of this ambition. Whether the “pro-student” focus was actually realized depends on the import one renders the previous developments, particularly the Students Charter.

The following year, Vince Dizon and his EB witnessed the ratification of the Students Charter and the formation of the Inter-Fraternity Assembly, which was created in the apex of fraternity violence. This SC gave its full consent to the introduction of the idea of a research-oriented multiversity. Dizon’s Board also me-diated in talks involving the Administration and the Employees’ Association. In a rare instance, student services took a step for-ward as library fee for term breaks was waived and class dismissal procedures were straightened out.

Nikki Briones was at the forefront of the next Tapat sweep in 1997. Briones’ stint was highlighted by the implementation of the ongoing Total Smoke Ban and Cheating Policy. Environmental-ism, apparently, was also in vogue as the recycling program and cleanliness rules were carried out for the first time.

From Dizon to Briones, an implicit transition in the SC’s nature could be seen – from “militant and uncompromising” to composed and conciliatory.

Déjà vu?History highlights two significant points: first, the recurrence

of many internal issues; second, the SC’s persistent failure to completely capitalize on its plans and its mandate. As records have shown, common political affiliations have not necessarily translated to improved student welfare and representation. Political unity, furthermore, has oftentimes resulted to misplaced efforts which could have been spent on more worthwhile endeavors. It also has not solved the SC’s seeming tendency toward overdue action or opposition when administrative policies are in question. These are the reasons why many on-campus issues (such as representation

in the Board of Trustees) arise repeatedly but remain unresolved. Perhaps the decline of student activism over time also contributed to the complacency seen in many student leaders today.

It is unfair, however, to outright brand the EBs mentioned as failures as they have, in some ways, effected change. It is also unreasonable to typecast the SC as altogether submissive amid the decrease of student radicals. Today’s circumstances are different from those a decade or more ago. Student problems likewise, call for different solutions – responses which may not necessarily call for radical action.

The Student Council can learn much from its predecessors. Given its most ambitious platform in years, the SC will need all its resolve, courage, and resources to truly achieve the just and free University they envision. To be or not to be, that is the question.

A dominant party dilemma?PAOLO JOSE MUTUC

Is there a tuition crisis?DLSU-Manila has the third highest tuition per academic unit and the second highest tuition per year among Phil-ippine colleges and universities, as stated in a June 15 article in the Philippine Daily Inquirer. The only other two universities with higher tuition per unit were Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) which charges Php2053.40 and University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P) which imposes Php2018 for one unit.

According to the Student Council (SC) Tuition Fee Research Committee (TFRC), tuition has shot up astro-nomically high. TFRC findings confirm that DLSU-M’s tuition is a barrier to most middle income family high school graduates.

The tuition at DLSU-Manila started to escalate in the early 90’s when the setting of tuition was deregulated by the government coupled with the University’s autonomous status. Being a non-stock, non-profit educational corpora-tion, DLSU-Manila’s bulk of the tuition increases in the past years went to the raise in salaries of faculty members and non-academic personnel, athletics, and facility upgrade.

DLSU is also known for engaging in the hiring of aca-demic luminaries from other top universities by offering generous compensation. According to the 2004 University of the Philippines (UP) President’s Report, a DLSU-M full professor receives a monthly basic salary of Php94360, while UP only gives Php30112 to its full professors.

Cost efficient tuition? Though it may seem that paying much larger tuition

per school year at DLSU-Manila is burdensome, a closer examination of the consequences of the trimestral system shows that the difference may not be much.

The real cost of a DLSU-Manila degree will be lower considering the expenses related to schooling and oppor-tunity cost incurred for the additional year by students in both Loyola Schools-ADMU and UA&P. Expenses such as those for transportation, school-related purchases, and other costs directly attributable to schooling will be greatly

lesser at DLSU-Manila since only at least three years is spent to earn a degree, while at ADMU and UA&P it is normally four.

The opportunity cost, or the potential earning lost due to another full year spent at semestral schools, also makes a DLSU-Manila education much cost-effective. Instead of studying for another year and thus incurring substantial expenses, students at DLSU-Manila are already being pro-ductive by pursuing their respective careers.

Bringing tuition back to earthBr. Armin Luistro FSC, DLSU System president, stated

“We have already reached the point of pricing ourselves out of the market.” During the World Congress V held last June 17-19, Br. Armin told the alumni that he will prevent the relatively high increase of tuition. In fact, the Multi-sectoral committee on Budget deliberated low tuition fee increases in the past.

An expensive tuition fee is only accessible to middle and elite classes. To combat this high tuition, the Administra-tion is targeting that 20 percent of the population would become scholars by 2011.

Currently, DLSU has an estimated 10 percent of student population on full scholarship. “For a student population of 12,000+, we would need to provide another 1200 new scholarships by 2011 - that’s 200 additional scholars annu-ally,” Br. Armin stated.

In order to attain this vision, the Admin would “look for 10 to 15 men and women of goodwill who will be willing to commit themselves to raise one perpetual endowment fund each of roughly P1.5 million.” Br. Armin furthered that this can be achieved easily if 100 graduating Lasallians would commit to sponsor two scholars a year for the next six years.

With the already sky-rocketing tuition fee, Br. Armin dreams to “…recognize that one out of every five students I encounter is a young person who a few years back would not even have dreamt of entering our halls.”

ARVIN ALCANAR JO

Br. Armin, however, clarified that he is neither calling Lasallians to lead an-other people power nor inciting desta-bilization against the government.

“We are not asking people to do another EDSA, because this is just cel-ebratory. (Instead), let us really study the issue. Let us provoke intelligent discussions among the students,” he added. With this, the Center for Social Concern and Action will conduct a lecture series on the GMA issue.

Mixed reactions

Br. Armin said that he received mixed reactions from alumni and par-ents, right after the System’s stand was published in PDI. “Out of 10 alumni who sent me text (messages), seven applauded us for coming out with such decision,” he said.

In an open forum last July 4 at the Yuchengco lobby, Cong. Francis Escu-dero, minority floor leader of Congress, commended and completely agreed with the bold action exemplified by the brothers. On the contrary, Cong. Matias Defensor, a staunch supporter of GMA, told The LaSallian that the decision of the brothers was “very harsh for GMA.”

In a meeting of Bunyag Kilos, Br. Rolando Dizon FSC, former DLSU-System president, revealed that he was even called by Malacañang and asked why the System produced a stand that called for GMA’s resignation. Br. Roly was the former chairperson of the Com-mission of Higher Education for one year under the GMA administration.

Traders also worried regarding the fate of GMA, due to the System’s stand. The peso closed at 56.09 to the US dollar on July 4, the lowest finish since January 10, the PDI reported. Since then, the peso has continued its plummet reaching an exchange rate of 56.284 as of press time according to the Central Bank.

Despite the different reactions he received from different sectors, Br. Armin is unfazed. “I am willing to stake my position (as the DLSU System presi-dent)…I am making my stand because I don’t want that by 2010, [the condition is still the same]. I want to be able to

tell the students we tried to speak and say what we had to say. That we tried to change and restore people’s faith in democracy,” he said.

Media coverageRestoring Faith in Democracy im-

mediately gathered responses from the media people, since DLSU-System was the first educational institution to boldly speak on the issue and since DLSU is not known to be a politically active institution.

The Associated Press (AP) was the first press agency to approach Br. Armin last July 2. His statements and reports from the AP were even used by the PDI as banner story for its July 4 issue. “Resignation would prevent the person from dragging the whole Philippines down, and we feel it has reached that point,” was the quote printed both in AP and PDI.

Other journalists who interviewed Br. Armin came from DWIZ, Radyo Veritas, ABS-CBN-Channel 2, GMA-Channel 7, and Kakampi Mo ang Batas by Atty. Batas Mauricio (TV Pro-gram-Channel 37), as well as a French journalist. These interviews took place last July 3.

Other UniversitiesOther universities have also called

for President Macapagal-Arroyo to re-sign. Together with DLSU, the College of Law of University of the Philippines is one of the few institutions to express their opposition against Arroyo.

The Student Council and some faculty members of Ateneo De Manila University want GMA to relinquish her position. Moreover, the University of the Philippines - Manila asks both GMA and VP Noli De Castro to resign. They also published their stand in the PDI with more than 50 signatories.

The University of Sto. Thomas sug-gested to create a "truth commission" to investigate the alleged involvement of the president in cheating during the elections.

The Ateneo Law School believed that as the duly elected leader of the country, she should "decide rightfully what is best for the country."

CBE COE COS CCS CLA CED

FRESHMEN 849 672 225 438 801 148

SOPHOMORE 976 463 176 316 646 122

JUNIOR 886 498 145 337 597 107

SENIOR 812 417 115 315 537 64

A Population concern. There is a relation between tuition and student population. With the average tuition per unit similarly impose, for the first time, to freshmen and sophomores at Php1, 762.50 per unit, the number of high school graduates who enrolled at DLSU-Manila this school year registered a 10.9 percent increase. This reversal from last years’ dismal nine percent decrease in freshmen enrollment was the primary intention of the decision by the Multi-Sectoral Committee on Budget last January, agreeing on a record-low tuition increase rate of 3.828 percent.

UNIVERSITY COMMENTARY

In ReviewFROM CALCULATED, PAGE 1

14 July 2005 8 14 July 2005 9U NIVERSITY The LaSallian

P H O T O The LaSallian

WASAPYO

"FANTASTIC" FOUR

Buboy Estrada

Luis De Vera

Ian Roman

CHUNKS OF CORN: SUGAR RUSH GP So Chan

UPPER FROSHMEN RR Gutierrez

HELLO GARCI?? Carvin Choa

PAMBIHIRA Allen Silva

ID#102

with Marylaine Louise Viernes for her work in the publication.

In the awarding ceremony held last July 1 at the Teresa Yuchengco Auditorium, Yan voiced out her ideas about true leadership and how to become La Sallian Christians working towards national change. In her speech, she stated that the problem is neither the economy nor too much politics but the moral ascendancy. Yan shared, “Ang kawalan ng tunay na lider, ng mga taong mabuting tularan, ang ugat ng ating mga problema”.

This statement summarized her analysis of our country’s present state. She was also able to outline the necessary steps that we all need to take in order to become leaders with good morals in our own right. These steps include knowing thyself, being proud to be a Filipino, having one’s own judgment, holding on to a reason not to forget our country and to live an honorable life. When asked to define leadership, her reply was: ”Leadership is not just a status, it is a philosophy. To me, leadership happens when one never ceases to strive for the ideal.”

It maybe recalled that Paquita Bonnet, direc-tor of Office of Student Activities (OSAc), filed a cased against Yan, due to writing a column on the office’s inefficiency and bureaucracy. Bonnet was the one who introduced the Most Outstanding Student Award through a video presentation.

Among the other winners are Ralph Waldy Soguilon and Joy Morales Lanting for the most outstanding student athlete; Kendrick Chua for the best leader of cultural arts group; Jillian Dawn Sze for the best student in the development of the community; Karmi Dulce Refe for the best student for disciplined leadership and advocacy; Marie Lao Uy and Paolo Castro Domondon for the the best leader of a student organization.

However, the brothers ask for the same sacrifice on the part of the Filipino people. “If we ask from the President a supreme sacrifice, nothing less should be required of every Filipino. Let this be a learning moment for us as we go through an authentic soul-searching and as we work assiduously towards healing and conversion”, the brothers asserted.

A reliable source told The LaSallian that some Lasallian broth-ers, together with other religious leaders, personally met GMA at Malacañang last July 2. “They told her the naked truth about her plummeting popularity as a form of feedback. It seemed that she was listening intently. But judging from her response, God only knows… We will only find out in the next few days,” the source furthered.

One stand, many sectorsWhile the higher administration of DLSU-System was drafting

their stand in the last week of June, some sectors of the University were also busy discussing their side on the issue.

Right after GMA’s public confession last June 27, the Student Council (SC) discussed its stand on the issue. This resulted to a manifesto calling for the formal and immediate resignation of the President.

The SC also believed current government has lost the trust of the Filipino people due to GMA’s “lapse in judgment”.

The Center for Social Concern and Action (COSCA) also re-leased their stand, which was considered aggressive yet substantial. COSCA believes the now-seen fraudulent elections will weaken the honesty and ability of the government to be truly public service-oriented.

Consequently, COSCA maintains that, “PGMA’s admittance on June 27 that it was her voice on the tape influencing and directing Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano to rig the presidential election in 2004 in order to win by at least 1 million votes was a serious crime that cannot be ignored.”

Alyansang Tapat sa Lasalista (Tapat) and Santugon both ask GMA to tender her resignation as president.

Dr. Carmelita Quebengco, Executive VP of DLSU-M, is also personally for the resignation of GMA, since she has lost the in-tegrity to continue leading the country.

Student’s pulseLast week, The LaSallian conducted a survey to get the stu-

dent’s pulse on the national crisis. All six colleges were represented with respect to the statistics given by the Office of University Reg-

istrar. Using a population mean of 180 respondents, 67 percent agreed that GMA should resign. Although 86 percent believed that GMA cheated in the 2004 national elections, a remarkable 64 percent agreed that the President will weather this crisis and remain president.

The statistics confirmed that the brothers did not consult the whole DLSU community while they were creating their stand. In the ad hoc committee meeting held on July 8, SC President Army Padilla relayed rumors of a student spreading pro-GMA sentiment by countering DLSU’s statements. Br. Armin said that students have the right to freedom of expression, and he respects the opinion of certain pro-GMA.

As of press time, the Faculty Association (FA) has yet to finalize its stand, having obtained the thoughts of the faculty in a survey held during the FA General Assembly on July 6. Some faculty reacted negatively to the statement of the brothers. However, this is purely the brothers’ stand and therefore, “the learned (faculty) should have their own position on GMA,” Enriquez said in his speech at the GA.

Action neededThe political parties see the need for action. “The youth should

take a stand and initiate change in government and in society. As the youth of this nation, we have the power to change things in this society and we invite you to use that power to create change in our government today”, Tapat issued.

Santugon, likewise, calls everyone into action. “Our country is vulnerable right now. We cannot afford to be apathetic. Our actions today… will determine the shape of our culture for years to come.”

The SC, in the concluding part of its manifesto, called for unity in building the nation and reiterated the need to clean the system of government in the country, which would start at the presidential level.

“Together, let us start to build a new nation… free from cor-ruption… free from fraud… based on justice, freedom, and a more humane society as envisioned by our institution. The national presidential level should be a good start,” the manifesto stated.

The ad hoc committee sees the importance of going beyond calling for GMA’s resignation. The focus should be on what would happen after GMA. Br. Armin said that students should be made to see the difference of this effort from the past People Powers. The committee stressed genuine reconciliation and moral rejuvenation as vital developments after the political turmoil. On the students’

part, doable action focusing on reforms that target faculty govern-ment institutions should be done, the committee opined. Concrete details have yet to be discussed depending on what would unfold in the GMA controversy.

(survey conducted by Mile Perez)

FROM YAN BAGS, PAGE 1

Hail Alma Mater! Students sing the alma matter during the human chain last July 9 to show the Lasallian spirit in the midst of crisis.

PHOTO BY JOSEF AARON LIM

part of the staff box, page 4, the last sentence reads, “None of the contents of this publication may be reprinted without the express written permission of the authors.” Shouldn’t the word express be in past tense? Or, we could get the same spirit of the sentence even if we delete the word express. Thus, the sentence could be written as either, “None of the contents of this publication may be reprinted without the expressed written permission of the authors.” or “None of the contents of this publication may be reprinted without the written permission of the authors.”.

Thank you very much. Live Jesus in our hearts, forever! In St. La Salle,Kuya Voc Voltaire MistadesVice Dean, College of ScienceAssistant Professor, Physics Department

Dear Sir Voc,

Just to clarify the part that says “without the express written consent” on our staffbox. Most people associate the word express with an action, and think that its only form is as a verb. However, this word can also be an adjective. One of its meanings as an adjective is explicit, which is the form that we’re using in the staff box. Other TV broadcasts and publications that use the same phrase are utilizing that form. Most people don’t know that express is also an adjective. So the phrase in quotation marks above can also be written as “without the explicit written consent.”

It’s not exactly the detail of TLS that I want to be noticed by our readers, but I guess we have to clarify this next month.

Mr Jose Paolo LacdaoCo-Editor-in-ChiefThe LaSallian

FROM SUPREME, PAGE 1

FROM LETTER, PAGE 6

The Student Council (SC), together with Societas Vitae (SV) and Center for Social Concern and Action (COSCA), organized programs and activities to com-memorate the Environment Month last June. This was part of the Student Council (SC)’s new vision of supporting the University in producing a strong, vigilant, and empowered citizenry.

Activities included talks on mining and waste segregation, a photo exhibit on the environment, and signature campaigns for Bantay Kalikasan and Haribon Wildlife. Recruitment booths were put up for different environmental organizations such as Green Peace and World Wildlife Fund. Pins for the environment were also given out and a paper drive was conducted. In addition, a mangrove planting activity was also held in Batangas.

The commemoration of the Environment month was part of the SC’s plan to re-establish its Committee for Social Consciousness and Involvement (CSCI) as a true agent of advocacy. According to Simoun Ferrer, VP for activities, “As a SC, we should not be limited to creating activities for the students. I believe that the SC should focus itself on activities which pertain to issues outside the University, issues within the country.”

Ferrer said the CSCI, as an arm of the Office of the VP for activities, existed long before but was not prioritized by the past VPs. This year, he plans to maximize this committee by providing activities that would be able to educate and promote advocacy for students in addressing certain national issues.

The waste segregation system of the DLSU system will be modified, Ferrer said. The new scheme will be done in DLSU-Manila as a pilot program. The details of the new scheme are still unclear, as the Office of the VP for Activities is currently studying the effectiveness of the current scheme.

Environment Month launched

Events

MICHELLINE KUON

14 July 2005 10 14 July 2005 11P OPTOWN The LaSallianU NIVERSITY The LaSallian

Two members of the DLSU Tennisters joined the First Prince-Home and Away Interclub Team Tennis 2005 Tourna-ment, which kicked off last June 18, 2005 at various locations with a total of six clubs competing.

Sophomore Pereme Alina and rookie Jandrick De Castro played for the BF Tennis Club and the Eusebio Tennis Club, respectively, as junior club protégés in the men’s open category.

The first round of this double round

robin tournament culminated last July 2 as teams Eusebio and Mandaluyong competed at the ground courts of the Mandaluyong Mental Hospital. De Castro and Bob Aguila lost to the pow-erful tandem of Gabby Remegio and Cris Marianoof , 8-1.

On the other hand, Alina and part-ner Alex Devera conquered a dominant pair at the home courts of the Capitol State 1 Tennis Club. According to Alina, their tandem was able to display an ex-

cellent performance. Despite playing in an unfamiliar court, Alina and Devera garnered an easy score of 8-3, putting the BF Tennis Club at fourth place.

In addition to the participation of the two Green Tennisters, the Tennis-ters’ mentors Roland Kraut and Taddy Cruz also played in the men’s open category for the Philippine Columbian Association and the Mandaluyong Ten-nis Club respectively.

The De La Salle Green and Lady Netters put up respect-able performances against top shuttlers in the country at the 2005 JVC Open Badminton Championships, and

at the Glorietta Activity Center in Makati City. Bryan Chan and Paula Chan reached the finals of the elite

mixed doubles event defeating William Gabuelo and Andrea Go of Ateneo in the semifinal round. The Chan siblings, who advanced to the semifinals by upsetting Julius Magallanes and Jean Pearl Go, 15-3, 15-11, will battle Paolo Dawal and Jemelle Vicencio of UST-Hemady for the title.

Therine Chan playing with Premier City Club member Noreen Go were also successful in advancing to the finals as they trounced Miqui Laurel of Golden Shuttle Foundation and Andrea Go of Ateneo, 15-8, 15-4, in the elite ladies doubles division. They will face Melody Villaceran and Elaine Lao in the final phase.

Chan together with De La Salle’s Paula Obañana will go to the semifinals of the elite masters mixed doubles with dif-ferent partners. Chan and Radil Sertan of the Philippine Air Force edged the UST-Hemady partnership of Ranel Carreon and Emma Galerio, 15-6, 15-6 while Obañana teamed up with fellow RP team member Ian Piencenaves to make it in the semifinals of the elite masters mixed doubles event when they defeated Ryan Conde and Zarina Barbo in straight sets, 15-3, 15-1.

Obañana also passed the quarterfinals round of the elite masters women’s doubles as she and Kennie Asuncion overcame Kathleen Anasco and Rose Ann De La Cruz of UST-Hemady, 15-5, 15-0.

In the elite masters mixed doubles division, Paula Chan and Michael Paclibar arranged a quarterfinal duel with the Philippines’ top tandem of Kennie and Kennivic Asuncion after defeating Alex Cuevas and Nam Nam Calefe.

However, Michael Paclibar and Bryan Chan failed to reach the quarterfinals of the elite masters men’s doubles event as they were dispatched by Salvador Diesmo and Alex Borromeo of the Po Hang Badminton Center in straight sets fashion, 15-12, 15-11.

Netters coach Owen Lopez also joined the competition. Lopez reached the quarterfinals but was overwhelmed by RP teammate Rodel Bartolome, 15-3, 15-12 in the elite masters men’s singles. Lopez and Raoul Angeles of DLSU were able to make it in the quarterfinals of the elite masters doubles division but failed to advance to the semifinals as they lost to Ricky Bartolome and Alfredo Mailon, 15-8, 15-5.

Cash prizes will be in store for the winners. In the elite masters division, P25,000 will go to the first place finishers while P15,000 and P10,000 each to the second and third placers respectively. In the elite division, P8,000, P6,000, P3,000 each will go to the top three winners.

Netters shine at JVC Badminton Open

Green Tennisters participate in Prince tennis tourneyCANDACE DAPHNE TING AND CAMILLE BIANCA PINTO

MICHELLE ANDREWS

Gay Brielle MitraWomen’s Basketball

This humble player sure has a lot to be proud of. Although she claims her play is not as “explosive” after recovering from her ACL injury last year, her drive has not wavered. As a power forward for the Lady Archers, she has learned in time that playing wisely is key; and that both skill and mind must be at work. With defense as her forte, she isn’t one to let anybody down. This time around, she is quite the go-getter.

Jorge DyMen’s Swimming

A natural swimmer, Jorge Dy only started swimming seriously in his third year of high school. This 2003 Rookie of the Year has contributed much support to his teammates and has earned himself a collection of points throughout his events in freestyle and oc-casionally, in backstroke. According to Dy, pacing is everything, all the way until the last bit of energy is exhausted. As much as possible, this modest swimmer lets self-con-fidence pilot him to the win. This year, expect to see this freestyler put his heart in every event he will partake.

Jennifer AdvinculaWomen’s Chess

Meek and petite, Jen Advincula has got a strategy or two up her sleeve. During her first year at De La Salle, she brought home a gold, and merited the Rookie of the Year title. Consequently, that was also DLSU’s first time to win the championship for women’s chess. Besides being a consistent player for De La Salle with the #3 Board, she engages in outside tournaments where she finishes excellently as well. Her Sicilian strategy in chess and her now stronger game openings will surely lead her to more wins.

GreenGallery DLSU Lady Spikers: Their Road to Glory

What makes a good coach?

The problem with coaches nowadays is the fact that they forget their players still have a life outside their respective sports.

Is he someone who can bring in a lot of

wins for his team? Or is he someone who can simply touch the lives of his players?

Honestly, I would go for the latter because winning is useless if the players aren’t enjoying the way they play. So some might argue with me, saying that how can the players not enjoy; after all, they are winning.

True, winning is 100% fun but that only happens if the players had a good coach. If one looks at it closely, most players win for their school, or for their families, or even for themselves, but never for their coaches, especially if their coaches are one of those strict and scary types.

The problem with coaches nowadays is the fact that they forget their players still have a life outside their respective sports. They are so engrossed in winning that the players have to push themselves to the limit just to reach their coaches’ expectations. In this case, it’s the players with lesser talent who suffer, as they don’t find the worth of playing anymore.

What exactly makes a good coach? I am not a coach but I believe that the things I’m going to list down are the stuff that all coaches know and should keep in mind.

Teaches his wards to become better players- First, the coaches must have an expert knowledge of the sport before they start coaching. With that knowledge, they can help their players improve their skills, as well as help them with their weaknesses.

Play (at least) everyone- Now, most coaches don’t do this anymore. They just play who they think can REALLY help the team. Honestly, I find this system unfair. I mean, the rest of the people in the roster are going through the same gruelling practices but they are not given enough playing time. Or sometimes, they aren’t even asked to play.

Ok, some might argue with me again, saying that there are just some better players who simply deserve the playing time. Well, aren’t the players practicing to improve? If there’s no improvement, then the problem is within the coaches, as they are not doing anything to hone the skills of their less-talented players.

Be a friend- Based on my past interactions with players, they prefer to have coaches who they are comfortable with. Someone who helps them with their problems or share a joke with is what they had in mind.

Able to discipline the team- Besides being a friend, the players believe that good mentors must be able to instill authority in the team. Otherwise, if the coaches can’t control the team, then the presence of having coaches will just be useless.

Yell-but only the good stuff- Once in a while, it’s ok for the coaches to turn up the volume. Yelling instructions to a player is fine but yelling at a player because he/she made a mistake is really embarrassing and can make the player feel bad.

I know it’s part of the job to yell but sometimes there are times when the yelling goes out of the line. When the players are yelled at during the game, most of the time they become too conscious of their movements, thereby losing their concentration in the game. As coaches, they have to be sensitive to their players’ feelings.

Believe in their players’ abilities- Honestly, I barely see this attitude in coaches nowadays. So, the players are given the playing time but they rarely hear their coaches tell that they believe in them. Now, how can the players be confident in their game if in the first place, the coaches aren’t confident in them?

In addition, coaches need tons of patience if they really want their players to succeed. If coaches are able to do all this stuff, then there won’t be any problem in the players’ relationship with the coaches.

I am not picking up a fight with coaches; I’m just expressing my sentiments based on my observations as a sportswriter. I seen coaches instruct their players, yell at them, but I barely see them care for players and this goes for the coaches of other UAAP schools as well.

Let’s take Larry Brown for example. He is one of the rare coaches who cared for his team. He didn’t just treat them as basketball players, but he also treated them like regular people. If coaches in the Philippines can also be like that, then there won’t be any problems, as with the right player treatment, the players themselves will do their best to win for the team and make their coach really proud.

After all, it’s more fun to play on a losing team with coaches that players like, rather than on a winning team with coaches they dislike.

The De La Salle Green Judokas are hoping to endure the hostili-ties of playing in enemy territory at the start of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) Invitational at the San Juan Gym on July 10, 2005.

Veterans Lou Anne Trazo and neophyte Rena Senales, who will compete in the half-middle and lightweight divisions respectively,

will banner the Lady Judokas’ campaign. Other members of the contingent include cousins Miah de Castro and Freagn Devaras on separate weight divisions.

RJ Musa and Elvin Ngo will banner the Green Judokas in the extra-lightweight division, while Franz Atutubo will battle with fellow half-middleweights.

The Invitational is a springboard for the Taft-based Judokas in preparation for the upcoming UAAP games. Also vying for honors are UAAP regulars University of Sto. Tomas, Ateneo De Manila University, University of the East, and Muntinlupa Judo Club and host PUP. Teams will battle in seven weight divisions in this one-day tourney.

I t was indeed a no-sweat feat for the DLSU Lady Spikers to enter the 2005 V-League First Conference semifinals with a nearly-im-maculate win-loss card paraded in their banner. The Lady Spikers, sweeping its first eight games and bearing only two losses, were bound to defend their prestigious V-league championship from powerhouses University of Santo Tomas, Ateneo de Manila University

and San Sebastian College. It was rather a long journey of victories and defeats; nevertheless, the Lady Spikers’ supremacy still prevailed as they secured a slot in the finals against archrival UST, and eventually bagged the 2005 V-League First Conference championship.

Game 1: DLSU vs. AdMU19-25, 25-15, 25-23, 25-17

Ateneo stirred off an unexpected victory, beating crown defenders De La Salle in the first semifinals match. The Lady Eagles surprisingly came into the match reeling from twin losses to the Lady Archers prior to the semifinal round.

Michelle Laborte powered Ateneo with 19 points while three others chipped in double-digit scores to highlight the Loyola-based squad’s balanced offensive gameplay. Amelia Guanco had 12, while Iris Ortega and Cecille Tabuena had 10 points apiece.

Michelle Carolino fired 19 points while Manilla Santos contributed ten, seizing the first set win for De La Salle. But the green squad’s efforts were not enough to stop the Lady Eagles from dominating the match. They gave way for Ateneo to finish them off within the three remaining sets, putting a 0-1 winloss card for DLSU in the semifinals.

Game 2: DLSU vs. SSC25-20, 25-15, 26-16

With topgunner Chie Saet slowly re-covering from an untimely flu, the Lady Archers were able to crush the seemingly deteriorating Lady Stags in an hour’s match to gain their first semifinals win.

Saet, the league’s consistent Best Set-ter awardee in the V-league conferences, executed 34 excellent sets in a notable performance that De La Salle lacked dur-ing its match against Ateneo. Maureen Penetrante and Michelle Carolino also dished out great marks, drilling holes on San Sebastian’s defensive wall with 14 and 12 points, respectively.

Meanwhile, Cherry Rose Macatangay shone for the Lady Stags with a game-high 16 markers but could not single-handedly overcome DLSU’s power and hype to seize the victory for her team. The rest of the Lady Stags produced a total of just 20 points as the squad absorbed their second setback in the double-round semifinal phase.

Game 3: DLSU vs. UST 25-18, 25-19,-29-27

Fueled by stalwart Michelle Carolino with a total contribution of 16 points, the Lady Spikers rampaged to a 3-set victory over the UST Tigresses in their first semifi-nals encounter. Taking major support from teammate Manilla Santos with 11 points, the green and white squad finished with an aggregate of 79 won points as opposed to

UST’s 64-point record. The Tigresses were brought to a

12-point deficit due to several service and receiving errors early in the first set. The momentum was very visible in DLSU’s side as they rallied to a maximum of a 6-0 run, nailing the scores at 4-1, 10-2 and 15-3. The second set followed coherently as DLSU maintained a 6-point advantage over the Tigresses, closing the set at 25-19. In the third set, the España-based squad rectified the lopsided match by keeping the scores close, forcing ten deadlocks, and posting a two-point lead near endgame at 24-22. De La Salle got back to end the set at an extended 29-27 score with hard spikes from Desiree Hernandez and skipper Maureen Penetrante.

Game 4: DLSU vs. SSC 32-30, 25-15, and 25-13.

Cherry Macatangay’s 16 points together with Jennifer Bohawe’s 11 points appeared to be insufficient against La Salle’s usual tandem of Michelle Carolino and Maureen Penetrante. Michelle Carolino pinned a game-high of 21 points, 20 of which from attacks, while Maureen Penetrante added 13 points, with 5 coming from blocks.

Both squads started out strong in the first set making it close all through out. With a strong attack from Concepcion Legazpi, the Lady Spikers were able to un-leash a 4-0 run to take the largest lead in the set at 14-10. The Lady Stags got the first set point with a powerful spike from Cherry Macatangay. Momentum shifted to the Lady Spikers as two consecutive errors from SSC tied the set at 24. The crowd cheered on excitedly as the two teams exchanged points in rallying to get the two-point ad-vantage. Finally, Michelle Carolino brought the set into a close by an attack and a block on Macatangay;thereafter, marking a score of 30-32.

The Lady Spikers went on to get two more sets and secure their win as the Lady Stags weren’t able to sustain their game hype after losing the tightly contested first set. SSC practically handed down the second set by giving De La Salle nine points due to their consistent errors.

The De La Salle squad took on an early lead at the start of the third set with their fiery defense preventing the Lady Stags from scoring off an attack. Carolino seemed unstoppable as she scored three attacks one after the other, thereby extending the lead to nine points, 21-12. Jaqueline Alarca’s

block of Macatangay’s attempt marked the final score at 25-13.

Game 5: DLSU vs. ADMU 25-25, 29-27 and 25-19.

It was a fast-paced game for the Lady Spikers as they started the game with a 6-1 run initiated by two consecutive strong hits by Michelle Carolino, who also led the squad in scoring with 18 points. Manilla Santos also displayed significant support, chipping in 16 points. On the other hand, Michelle Laborte and Amelia Guanco had 10 points apiece to lead the Lady Eagles.

The Lady Spikers may have easily won the first set with a score of 25-15, but it was a different story at the succeeding set. With De La Salle, already at set point, the Lady Eagles had a 4-0 run, with 2 points coming from DLSU’s error, to tie the set at 24-all. The two squads exchanged points until Maureen Penetrante scored a hit after a spike from Desiree Hernandez, finishing the set at 29-27.

The Lady Eagles tried to keep it close at the start of the third set but at the 10-9 mark, the Lady Spikers orchestrated a 9-2 run, posting the scores at 19-11. With the Taft-based squad slowing down in scoring, the Ateneo team fought their way backinto the game after capitalizing on a number of Lady Spikers’ errors and Cecille Tabuena’s spikes. Just as the Lady Eagles were hoping to fight off a De La Salle’s set point, a service error from Tabuena handed the win to the Lady Spikers.

Game 6: DLSU vs. UST25-14, 25-18, 20-25, 21-25, 14-16

The Lady Spikers were down the drain as the Tigresses avenged themselves, smashing the defending champs in a five-set match.

The yellow troupe, powered by last year’s first conference MVP Mary Jean Balse, and team captain Roxanne Pimentel, crushed De La Salle after bouncing back from a 0-2 deficit to win the game against their archrivals.

The first two sets came easy for De La Salle as they secured consistent leads over the Tigresses. It was in the deciding third set that the Tigresses shifted the momentum to their side, stopping the Lady Spikers from grabbing the victory. It was a sharp contrast to their slumping start as the Tigresses fostered ferocity, as they captured the last three sets and finally emerged victorious in a rather long match.

Judokas vie for honors in PUP Judo Invitational

NIKKI ANN TUNGOL AND GAY ZARENO

CARLOS REBULLIDA III

Astring-O-sol has recently launched its newest mouthwash with a 12-hour icy coolness effect. In relation to Astring-O-sol 12-hour mouth protection, The LaSallian also looked for 12 things that people like about the Green Archers.

1. Never-say-die fighting spirit2. Aggressive and daredevil way of unleashing their full force3. Winning tradition4. JV Casio’s humility5. Effective basketball system employed by Coach Franz Pumaren6. Ability to surprise other teams every year7. Team’s camaraderie8. Run-and-gun offense9. Nightmare press(full-court press)10. Good image11. Non-stop cheering squad (made up of the DLSU alumni)12. Love for basketball

If there are 12 things that the people can like about this season’s defending champs, then the fans will also surely find a treat in Astring-O-sol’s newest product as well.(Compiled by Jordy Navarra and Christian Sikat)PHOTO BY ERIC SIY

The Lady Archers and Unilab Consumer Health have inked a sponsorship deal for the team this UAAP season. At center is Coach Mon Jose shaking hands with Mr. Jun Vivar, Vice President of Unilab Consumer Health. PHOTO COURTESY OF REGINA JOSE

PHOTOS BY DAN JOSEPH NABLE

PHOTO BY ERIC SIY

REUBEN EZRA TERRADO

14 July 2005 12 14 July 2005 13S P O R T S The LaSallian S P O R T S The LaSallian

REUBEN EZRA TERRADO, NIKKI ANN TUNGOL, AND JEWELLYN GAY ZARENO

D e La Salle waited no further in ending its championship series with University of Santo Tomas as it swept its way to the championship of the 2005 Shakey’s V-League first conference tournament.

The Lady Spikers completed the 2-0 sweep with a 17-25, 25-22, 30-28, 25-20 decision in Game Two last July 7 at the Rizal Memo-rial Coliseum. In the series curtain raiser, the Taft-based volleybelles came away with a 25-21, 18-25, 25-19, 27-25 win at the Makati Coliseum three days prior to the second game of the series.

Maureen Penetrante was adjudged the Most Valuable Player of the league moments after scoring 16 points in Game Two. Rein-forcement Michelle Carolino had a team-high 17. But the victory was not easy as they were challenged by the pesky Tigresses.

At 20-all in the second set, Mary Jean Balse’s service error and Pimintel’s blocked spike gave De La Salle a two-point lead. UST were not able to answer as Joyce Pano committed a service error of her own. Chie Saet’s ace was instrumental in the Lady Spikers ending the set, 25-22.

The climax of the match was in the third set as it needed extra session. Down by one, 24-23, Carolino saved the squad scoring

to tie the count. But it was Manilla Santos who put De La Salle to a comfortable 2-1 match-lead. Santos, who experienced dizziness in that set, orchestrated a 3-0 run as she canned a drop shot plus a spike, 30-28, to the delight of the jam-packed crowd.

After a crucial victory in the third set, De La Salle erected a 20-10 advantage in the fourth. Mistakes haunt the Tigresses as four of the next five points of the Lady Spikers came from UST’s errors. Pimintel’s error ended the match with De La Salle running away with its second straight V-League crown.

“Whoever wins that set will also win the game so they played all-out in the third set,” said coach Ramil De Jesus of the exciting third set.

After being named the MVP, Penetrante received the award with tears of joy in her eyes as she raised the trophy. The team captain of the Lady Spikers just ended her playing years in the UAAP last season.

Crowd favorite Michelle Carolino bagged the Best Attacker award while DLSU libero Shermaine Peñano was named as the Best Receiver. Chie Saet completed the list of DLSU awardees as she brought home the Best Setter trophy.

In Game One, after a win in the first set and the green and white squad taking a lead, 14-11 in the second, the Tigresses were poised to tie the match-up by erecting a crippling 7-0 blitz to set the pace for a UST victory in that phase, 25-18.

Aching to come back from that second set defeat, De La Salle pounced nine straight points enough to be victorious in the third set.

An exciting fourth set was seen with the highest margin at only four points. De La Salle drew nearer to the victory with a 24-22 lead. But a 2-0 blast tied the game with Santos’ spike sailing wide left. The match ended when Venus Bernal spike was blocked after Penetrante scored on a kill.

Defense was the storyline in Game One. De La Salle blocked 16 shots against UST’s 7.

Prior to the finals round, the Lady Spikers just lost to the UST Tigresses in a no-bearing game. Nonetheless, the Taft-based volley-belles were able to climb back and redeem themselves in the finals, thus leading to their second straight Shakey’s V-League crown.

(with reports from Celine Hernandez)

Lady Spikers seize second V-League crown

Whatever the time, whatever the age, whatever the place, the De La Salle-Ateneo rivalry seems to bring out the good in everybody.

But De La Salle will get the brag-ging rights as the better team, for now, as the Legends and All-Stars of the green and white prevailed against its Ateneo De Manila counterparts in the Fil-Oil/Flying V Ultimate Showdown – The De La Salle-Ateneo Basketball Classic last July 2 at the Araneta Coli-seum.

The De La Salle Legends, which is composed of players of the 1960s to the 1980s, beat the Ateneo Legends, 79-70, while the All-Stars, comprising the batch of the 1980s to the present, trounced the Ateneo All-Stars, 83-72.

The DLSU legends led for the most part of the game but with Ateneo only trailing by two at the end of the third quarter, 52-50, Jojo Lastimosa and Jimmy Tioseco hit on their shots to take the lead for the first time in the match. As an answer, De La Salle turned to current members of the Green Archer

coaching staff, assistant coach Tonichi Yturri and head coach Franz Pumaren. After the Tioseco shot, the offense pitched inside to Yturri scoring four of the next six points of De La Salle inside the paint. Pumaren then drilled a three-pointer for a 9-0 run that ended any hopes of a Blue Eagle comeback. Yturri continued to score inside to end the game with 16 points.

The Taft-based Legends started the game with an 8-0 run backed by NCAA stalwarts Tito Sagarbarria and Lim Eng Beng setting the tone of the game lead-ing by as much as twelve, 31-19. In return, the Ateneo Blue Legends also blasted a 9-0 run in the second canto, cutting the lead to just five, 34-29, at halftime.

Like the Legends, the DLSU All-Stars opened the floodgates quickly. Current UE headman Dindo Pumaren and Juno Sauler led DLSU to a 25-point outburst while limiting Ateneo to just eight in the first quarter. The 17-point lead continued until halftime, 41-24.

With a 48-28 lead upon them, Ateneo recovered slowly but surely in the third quarter with a 24-8 rally in an eight-minute span, making a lopsided game an after thought. But a 14-0 blast led by guard Dino Aldeguer and forward Dickie Bachmann at the start of the fourth period upped the count at 70-54 with roughly seven minutes re-maining, securing the win for the DLSU All-Stars in this historic showdown.

Alvin Castro led De La Salle with 12 points while Pumaren had 10. Castro was instrumental for the All-Stars as his points came from behind the arc including one just before halftime. In that Ateneo third quarter run, he scored two three-point baskets to keep their decent lead from the Blue Eagles.

The proceeds of the game will go to the Ateneo de Manila University Athletic Fund, De La Salle University Sports Fund, La Salle Greenhills Alumni Association, Br. Leon Castiglione Sports Fund, La Salle Greenhills Alumni Association Adult Night School, and the Philippine National Red Cross.

Legends, All-Stars sweep Ultimate Showdown

At the top of their game. The Lady Spikers again dominated UST for their second straight Shakey's V-League title. PHOTO BY ERIC SIY

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Their Road to Glory