Red and green are invading houses, malls, streets, churches, and stores. Along with the proliferation of Santa Claus outfits on TV ads, Christmas lights and decors adorning the campus, holiday greetings, and the chilly mornings, all these announce the start of the Yuletide season.

Perhaps most of us are already busy making Christmas wishlists. For sure, some of us are thinking what presents to give our friends and families as we return to our hometowns.

But not all are as blessed. For the past eight years, it would not be an exaggeration to say that not a day or week passes without one’s hearing or reading a news report of human rights abuses.

Be it for political killings, forced disappearances, illegal detentions, torture, massacres, harassment, abductions, and so on, the Arroyo regime has become notorious as the worst human rights violator after the Marcos dictatorship.

How lucky of them not to have been summarily executed or made to disappear by the military was the immediate response of some people when hearing the news of last semestral break’s illegal detention of three Cebu-based student leaders.

And indeed, lest we forget, UP Diliman students Karen Empeño and Sherlyn Cadapan, like the three, were also working with peasants when they were abducted four years ago. The two remain missing.

The impunity with which human rights are desecrated is reflective of the kind of society we live in. It is symptomatic of the desperation of the Arroyo regime, which had to resort to physical violence against its political enemies to perpetuate itself in power.

Through Oplan Bantay Laya I and II, the armed forces, police, and other repressive state apparatuses have been mobilized in the anti-insurgency campaigns to thwart the resistance to the regime’s scandalous schemes and anti-people policies.

The human rights alliance KARAPATAN has documented at least 1000 cases of political killings and more than 200 cases of enforced disappearances. The Maguindanao Massacre added 34 journalist killings to this list.

But this is not just a matter of statistics. Some of us students, after all, are not new to infringement of rights even in the campus. The adoption of the repressive Diliman Code of Student Conduct here in UPV is like a sword that hangs over our heads.

It is often said that every Filipino has a relative or a friend or at least someone close who is working abroad. With the way things are going, it seems that the day is not far when the same can be said of victims of state terrorism.

Luisa Posa-Dominado, for instance, who was abducted along with fellow activist Nilo Arado by alleged military elements in April 12, 2007, is the mother of one UPV student. The two remain missing until now.

Wheras iskolars ng bayan demand genuine student consultations and respect for students rights in the campus, the loved ones left behind by victims of human rights violations are wishing for justice and genuine democracy this Christmas. ■

Note: Published as the editorial of the December 2009 issue of Pagbutlak, the Official Student Publication of the University of the Philippines Visayas College of Arts and Sciences.

Does UP education lead to selfless service to the Filipino people?

On the one hand, the University of the Philippines has been regarded by the people as a bastion of academic excellence, critical thinking, and social awareness.

This reputation is the legacy of generations of iskolars ng bayans who excelled in their particular fields of study and forwarded the people’s rights in the streets, the impoverished communities, and the countryside.

On the other hand, the university conditions its students to accept modes of thinking that conform to the dominant beliefs and values in Philippine society. The university, after all, can never be separated from the greater community in which it is situated. The problems that affect the people in general, likewise, find themselves reflected within the university.

The government, for instance, being beholden to foreign powers, must acquiesce to unequal economic prescriptions by the International Monetary Fund as a precondition for further World Bank loans.

The budget allotted for education is thus decreased in favor of foreign debt servicing. Education is likewise restructured to meet the demands of the foreign market.

The privatization of public education, as carried out in the Long-Term Higher Education Development Plan of 2001-2010 effectively reduces the number of state universities and colleges and transforms the remaining ones into semi-corporations that generate their own income.

The university is thus deprived of much-needed budget annually. Next year, the university will be given only P5.3 billion pesos by the government. Not only is this figure way lower than the current year’s P7.06 billion budget, it is P13 billion less than the P18 billion originally proposed by the university.

In the end, the responsibility of subsidizing UP education is passed on the students through tuition and other fee increases.

Is education given in the university then still for the people considering these circumstances? Or does it simply aid in the reproduction of values that instill in the students a silent acceptance of the unjust social realities?

We iskolars ng bayan are essentially being molded to become subservient automatons that uncritically follow the norms and dictates of an unjust social order.

The closing of democratic access to education restricts certain “know-hows,” and therefore the means to succeed later on in life, to the more well-off – in short, the dominant groups of society.

Repressive measures like the tagging of progressive organizations as communist fronts, the closing of student publications, and the harassment of student leaders are designed to preserve such a commercialized and elitist orientation.

The proposal to implement the 2009 Code of Student Conduct and other measures that will limit our rights to organize, freedoms of speech, and other democratic liberties in the whole UP system is part of this dynamic.

What is truly decisive, however, is our response to such a condition. Will we iskolars ng bayan allow the university to go on its present course? Or will we forward an alternative paradigm, a more people-oriented direction, for the university?

To serve the people in this light is to uphold the people’s democratic right to quality and accessible education. The Filipino people wants nobody, nobody but you. ■

Note: Published as the editorial of the November 2009 issue of Pagbutlak, the Official Student Publication of the University of the Philippines Visayas College of Arts and Sciences.

Any UP students will know that their school does not require their students to wear uniform. Well, except maybe a few courses like public health, where you get to wear the crisp white ones similar to those worn by nursing students. If you’ve been to UPV Miagao Campus, the first thing you’ll notice is that it is an open campus. There are no gates that separate UPV Miagao from the rest of the world.

So how can you tell if the one entering is a student?

You can’t. So as a new rule that took effect only on the previous academic year, students are required to wear IDs.  The rule raised a lot of questions, the most common being, “what’s the point?”

The UPV administration said that the wearing of ID will limit the pool of suspects in case of a theft, or any crime occurring on campus. As if anyone is actually convinced of the effectvity of that.

What is the point of this rule? Wearing of ID is, to be frank, useless in this particular campus because:

1. It is an open campus. You can enter without passing the guard houses.

If you can enter the school grounds without passing through security guards, then it is safe to say that absolutely anyone can enter. Outsiders even jog on campus in the early hours of the morning. Students can get mugged at night because muggers won’t be stupid enough to pass by the guard houses.

2.  The College of Arts and Sciences, the college with the biggest population, has three entrances, and out of these three, only the main entrance has a guard. Students who have classes in the basement would opt to use the basement entrances. Outsiders could use the entrance on the other side of the building. Those who do not have IDs could enter the building through either of these two entrances.

3. Even if you do not have an ID, you could still enter the college buildings, just as long as you log in at the entrance, stating the reason why you did not have your ID with you. Who’s to say that an outsider won’t tell the guards that he or she left their IDs at the dorm? They could use a fake name (it’s not electronic logging anyway) and state a fake reason for not having an ID.

4. As long as the guard can see you wearing a UP lanyard, you’re fine. Sometimes students put ATM cards instead of IDs there, and the guard won’t know the difference.

With obvious loopholes like these, who needs rules? Could wearing of ID really lessen thefts inside the campus? UPV Miagao survived for decades without the mandatory ID. The world is getting scarier, but as long as UPV Miagao is still an open campus, ID wearing will still be useless.

http://www.bennadel.com/resources/uploads/night_club_bouncer_pencil_sketch.jpg

Various factors actually affect the definition of the violation.

And same is true with the log-in/log-out policy of the university in the dorm area.

I was equally surprised when I initially heard about this.  Frankly speaking, though, I thought that this one might have been an effective way of securing the entire UPV community. But as I gradually absorbed the whole situation, I realized that I’ve thought wrong. And later told myself that this one is gonna be another ambitious policy that the UPV officials (led by UPV OSA) believe would work.

http://beyondtheblog.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/alpha-do-not-enter.jpg

I must say that this policy is apparently absurd. And I’ve actually come up  with several reasons why I find it stupid. And just to establish a limitation, I would only focus on the Miagao context to where I really think that everything that I’m gonna tackle here is quite applicable and visible .

What’s the use of implementing this policy when students and civilians can still enter the university or the dorm area without using the main entrance?

Logic will tell us that this policy will never be effective in an open university like UPV. They should have realized that fencing the entire university must come first before this policy took effect. 

What is the point of asking the students or anybody who enters the university to sign in to the record book if we could just fabricate the information that we write on it? 

Anyway, the guards never ask for an ID that would at least somehow validate the information that we give. In fact, we can use the name of somebody we hate and then do a violation. There’s no way they could trace, though, that it wasn’t him/her at all. You’re not just saved, you also successfully put a stain on your enemy’s record. Moreover, criminals, per say, could undoubtedly pass this kind of ‘regulation’.

And lastly, going back to the discriminating issue I’ve mentioned earlier, I really think that the definition of school rules such as the log-in/log-out policy, is quite inconsistent.

Discriminating here refers to the subjectivity of the guards on duty on whether they’ll consider a student as  a violator or not.

For instance, if you think you’re cute or feel sexy in your short shorts perhaps you could negotiate with the guards. If you’re friends with the guards on duty you could as well save your self from signing into the record book. Isn’t it fantastic?

I acknowledge, though, the intention of  protecting the entire people of UPV and I sincerely commend the OSA for that.  

Now, the biggest question is : Who is the real stupid in this idiotic scenario?

Is it the UPV OSA  who is the back bone of  this pointless log-in/log-out policy?

Is it the UPV guards who effortlessly materialize  the policy? or maybe, . .

Is it the students who are the subjects of this policy and who can not or do not question its implementation?

Creating a short film in the course “Proyectos Diseno 2 Animacíon” at Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, Bellas Artes. The film is a classic animation with visual effects and post production in After Effects. It is my intention to send this film to different animation festivals in Spain when it is done. The work is still in progress.

Created in the course “Fundaments of Animation” .
Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, Bellas Artes, 2009.

Created in the course “Fundaments of Animation” .
Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, Bellas Artes, 2009.

It was a lazy afternoon and I wanted to relax: forget about academics, problems, and (*laugh*) heartaches for awhile.

I turned on the television, and every now and then, there are the political advertisements of people who provided empty promises, people who cannot save the country.

I turned on my laptop for entertainment, but movies and TV series overdo on the lovey-dovey again: Not exactly what I wanted to think about. There are the gore and guns movies that I normally love watching, and then I realized that the person behind the massacres in Maguindanao probably watched one too many action movies himself.

I read, and there goes the lovey-dovey thing again. I got nauseous.

So I decided to throw on my favorite shirt, don my favorite Chuck Taylors, and I toss the things I needed in my knapsack: pen and notebook so that I can write, a bottle of C2 Iced tea in case I get dehydrated from the heat, my camera for perspective, and a bottle of alcohol, which lately, I can’t leave the dorm without.

I slather on another layer of body butter, and I went out for a walk.

I decided to go to the football field. It was scorching hot, but the row of trees made it no less than beautiful, and the breeze blew my hair lovingly. Then my thoughts came rushing. Some are fond memories, some made me question myself, and some brought tears down my cheeks. I entertained these thoughts, and it didn’t matter whether they were good or bad. I let myself go because that was what I was there for.

After awhile, I stopped thinking, and I took in my surroundings.

The world is scary, but there, the dance of the leaves and grass is beautiful. The harshness of reality is forgotten as I listened to the sweet song of the birds, wonderfully in harmony with the whistle of the wind. And the bitterness of life was hidden in the basement as The Artist painted cotton-candy clouds against the palette of brilliant blue sky.

I heard the noises from the harsh world, and I snap back. I knew I had to go.

But it was time well spent because through all the horror, disappointments, problems, stress and heartaches that we’ve been living in, that afternoon, I was that little girl again…

That time, I was the little girl…the one who found magic once again because she believed in it…

El pasado miércoles 18 Nova Prevenció intervino en el programa “Tierra de Nadie” de UPVRadio, programa dedicado a la actualidad de las ONGs, por medio de Antoni Martínez, Director Técnico de la asociación. Os invitamos a escucharlo online o a descargarlo en el siguiente enlace de la web de Nova Prevenció:

http://www.novaprevencio.org/documentos.html

(desde el minuto 22:22  hasta el minuto  44 donde hablamos a fondo de la asociación, si bien os invitamos a escuchar todo el programa).

Agradecemos a Tati (responsable del programa) como a Carol (responsable de comunicación de la Plataforma de Voluntariado de la CV) la invitación al programa,  un fuerte abrazo para ambas.

Cortometraje en Blender, premiere y after effects para las asignaturas de “imagen sintética” y “edición y postproducción de video” de la universidad politécnica de valencia.

Hoy os presento mi último trabajo, el NEW BEE, presentado al concurso de diseño de la revista Autopista del año 2009, el cual describo a continuación en detalle.

El camino que está tomando la industria automovilística hace predecir que en un futuro las carreteras sólo circularán vehículos interconectados autómatas en los que los humanos se desplazarán en especies de cubos de un punto a otro como si estuvieran en el salón de casa. Sin embargo, el automóvil ha sido concebido como un medio de transporte que representa la independencia y la emoción, estando esta última en clara depresión.

Los vehículos evolucionan hacia una red que permita conectarse entre ellos para poder evaluar mejor el estado del asfalto, distancias entre vehículos, tráfico, etc. hasta el punto de que se llegaría a un estado donde se pudiera evaluar todos los puntos que afectan a la dinámica y a la conducción, llevándolo a un posible modo totalmente autónomo.

La tecnología de intercomunicación y la gran potencia de análisis de las computadoras en los vehículos nos darían la gran fórmula para que toda clase de adelantamientos que hoy en día vemos como imposibles o maniobras de conducción deportiva fueran seguros también fuera de una pista cerrada, ya que siempre estarían supervisados y controlados por el vehículo, el cual incluso nos podría instruir.

Un vehículo sin pesados sistemas de protección pasiva, ligero y rápido, divertido y, sobre todo, seguro. El circuito sería todo el mundo.

NEW BEE es un concept car que se beneficia de la citada eliminación de sistemas de seguridad pasiva para saltar un nuevo nivel por encima de lo establecido hasta ahora en el diseño del automóvil. Además, apoyado en el uso de materiales ligeros y resistentes como la fibra de carbono, unidos a sistemas de visualización 3D, se pueden crear nuevas formas hasta ahora inimaginables.

Su diseño asimétrico está delimitado únicamente por la forma de gota del habitáculo y la superficie única que lo envuelve, dando como resultado un deportivo de líneas atrevidas e innovadoras.

Fuera de todo estándar se sitúa el arriesgado y placentero diseño diferenciador.
Fuera de todo estándar se sitúa  la emoción.

La silueta del NEW BEE desborda deportividad y la estampa del propio vehículo en parado es tan intensa como en movimiento. Ha nacido para correr y no lo puede esconder… no quiere esconderlo.

Es un biplaza de tracción trasera propulsado por dos motores, que se albergan en las ruedas, y dispone de supercondensadores como almacenamiento de energía. Todo dispuesto para poder soltar adrenalina y despertar el placer por la velocidad.

Mis más sinceras felicitaciones a Hugo Cárlos Fernández, estudiante de la EUDI también.

Hoy os traigo otra pequeñ racion, que ha fuerza de tener que semi-habitar la universidad me veo forzado a sufrir y sorprender.

Un desfrisbilador en la entrada de la biblioteca, ¿qué alguien por favor me explique que función cumple?, cuanta gente se morirá así de repente por un ataque al corazón en la entrad de una biblioteca, vale que las patatas comida del Ágora las refrien 6 veces al día, pero creo que todavía no llegamos a esos extremos.

¿Por qué narices hay únicamente manga porno gay en la sección de manga de la biblioteca?, ¿quién coño se encarga de comprar la colección?

Esta absurda losa de hormigón que se encuentra bajo de Caminos 1, que supongo que por el tiempo que lleva allí y lo extendida que es la capa es para hacer una prueba de durabilidad a largo plazo, pero aún así no sé para que narices es,

Song of the Moment: Tiny Dancer – Elton John

Man, do I love that song. So, what sort of crap am I gonna come up with today? Anyways, as a direct result of my having to do my fisheries paper for AquaSci, I found myself lecturing my best friend on depleting wild fish stocks and how our future may rely on aquaculture. You know how that happened? She said, “Fish aren’t exactly endangered.” I think people should never say things like that around me. I realise, and usually too late, that I sort of hurt people’s feelings when ranting about animal rights. Once, during dinner, I went all “How in the world could you be eating that when you saw that thing alive just a few hours ago?!”, as they are shoving the food (fish) in question down their throats. They must’ve felt attacked. Oh, well. They attacked the fish, too. And enjoyed it.

My university doesn’t have an animal rights organisation, even though we have three environmental organisations. Environmental organisations that don’t do anything anyways. They’re practically invisible. People don’t really care about the environment or animal rights. They only care about politics. Which is why the most widely recognised organisations in my campus are political parties. Here’s news: NOT EVERYONE GIVES A DAMN ABOUT POLITICS.

So my best friend and I are talking about university and stuff. Yeah. And because “Titanic” is on TV, I decided to get the soundtrack. Yeah. It’s gonna provide  an awesome score to my future digital shorts for school.

¿Que qué es Biblioteco?

Biblioteco es una nueva plataforma de comunicación pensada especialmente para estudiantes universitarios. Tiene un formato adaptado a las que, creemos, son sus necesidades. De hecho, la idea y la elaboración proviene en su mayoría de estudiantes universitarios (sí, servimos para algo). Y nos estamos preocupando por hacerla sencilla y clara, de forma que permita una comunicación rápida y fluida. Y que puedas utilizarla para lo que quieras.

¿Que si somos una red social? Bueno, desde Biblioteco queremos facilitar el contacto entre personas de un determinado sector, que en su mayoría ya se conocen previamente. ¿Eso nos convierte en una red social? La verdad, no nos preocupa demasiado. Tenemos ese objetivo. Si cumplirlo implica ser una red social, pues sea.

Eso es lo que somos.

¿Cómo? A través de mensajes cortos, que permiten mantener conversaciones claras, rápidas y fluidas.

Además, podéis indicar dónde estáis estudiando en cada momento. Así sabrás por dónde andan tus amigos: en qué biblio, o sala de estudio, o en su casa, en una cafetería…

La idea es la siguiente: al entrar en Biblioteco, lo primero que haces es agregar a todos tus amigos. Puedes usar nuestro buscador. Si aún no tienen una cuenta de Biblioteco, invítales a entrar.

Desde la sección Mensajes, hablas y cambias tu lugar de estudio. Todo a mano. Conforme vayáis usando Biblioteco, veréis que podéis hacer muchas más cosas: hablar con la gente que está estudiando en el mismo lugar que vosotros, crear grupos, completar tu perfil, buscar y agregar a más gente… Pero bueno, juega tú mismo, ¡y ves descubriendo!

Es el primer día de clases y llega el profesor de Física, con su pipa, sus lentes, su bata…

-Buenos días muchachos, soy su profesor de Física. Este es el primer problema: Sale un avión de Valencia hacia Madrid, a una velocidad al momento de despegar de 250 Km/Hora. El viento tiene una velocidad de 20 nudos en dirección sur este. Mi prima se llama Carmela. ¿Qué edad tengo?

Todos se quedan perplejos. Hasta que un estudiante alza la mano.

-¿Sabe usted la respuesta?

-Sí, su edad es 44 años.

-Muy bien, ¿cómo supo la respuesta?

-Tengo un primo que está medio tarado y tiene 22.

¿Qué es?, ¿qué es?, parece de algodón, ¿qué es?, ¿qué es?, parece secreción masculina en un vaso de 250 cc, hum, mejor no probar.

En esta ocasión a Otegi y sus secuaces ni siquiera les ha dado tiempo a reconstituir la nueva cúpula de Batasuna, sino que han sido detenidos cuando estaban en ello. Estupendo, es una gran noticia y por ello felicito a las Fuerzas y Cuerpos de Seguridad del Estado así como a las autoridades judiciales y políticas responsables de la operación.  Pero vamos a más que ya es hora!

Se les ha detenido en la sede del sindicato LAB, lugar donde se reunían habitualmente. Por todos los vascos es sabido que el sindicato LAB es parte del entramado de ETA, y por lo tanto, cómplices necesarios y miembros de la banda terrorista ETA. ¿A qué espera Zapatero para poner en marcha a la Fiscalía para que promueva la ilegalización de LAB?

Y si avanzamos un paso, hay que seguir mirando hacia delante. Si se hace el simple ejercicio de poner en el buscador de Google los nombres de los detenidos más jóvenes como Arkaitz Rodriguez, Miren Zabaleta o Sonia Jacinto, se ve como todos ellos colaboraban o formanban parte de Ikasle Abertzaleak, el sindicato de estudiantes que apoya sin ningún tapujo a ETA. Todos los jóvenes vascos que hemos pasado por la UPV sabemos lo estrecha que es la relación entre Segi, Jarrai, LAB e IA. Los universitarios de la UPV sabemos perfectamente como se las gastan y como son la presencia de ETA en los campus vascos.

Señor Zapatero, ¿¿porqué no se agiliza la investigación de la relación entre IA, LAB, BATASUNA y ETA??  Es hora de ilegalizar a LAB y a Ikasle Abertzaleak.