There had been much buzz regarding BlogParteeh ’07. I’ve never really attended any gathering, formal or informal, of bloggers so it’s probably lamentable that I had to skip another one.

We initiated and inducted ten freshmen into UP Cinema Arts Society yesterday at the usual place in Lagro. Welcome to UP CAST, Aleli, Caloy, Golda, Ilsa, Kim, Melai, Mikki, Paul, Roanne and Sam! Congratulations.

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Here are some of the things I got myself into the past days.

First, last Saturday, I went with the guys from Universitas to tutor a handful of elementary school children at Krus na Ligas Elementary School. It’s been years since I did this. Back in senior year in Ateneo High School, one of our course requirements was to tutor elementary school kids at a designated public school for almost an entire school year. We made our own lesson plans every week and brought our own props, papers, and visual aids. Volunteering for Universitas Project Forge isn’t as demanding, because all materials are apparently ready beforehand. I wish I could do this every weekend, but all my other commitments won’t permit me, unfortunately.

Last Monday, at the pro-Philippine Collegian demonstration at AS (Palma Hall) lobby, my friends made me speak in front of the crowd. Hayayay. I still get very nervous whenever they make me do public speaking. Especially in rallies. It takes practice, I guess.

Oh, and this afternoon, while walking towards UP MCO’s tambayan, my friends pulled me into doing this role-playing stint for a short video segment for GMA 7′s Unang Hirit. Darn. That was very spontaneous. Ang dugyot ko pa noong tanghaling ‘yon.

Yesterday, I also shot my first ako-lang-ang-direktor / I-call-all-the-shots short short video exercise/film! It feels liberating that I’m not just the actor or the assistant director or the production manager or a production assistant. I’m my own director, even for just a short video exercise! Yahoo. Whatever.

Many thanks to my friends Ayeen and Christer for acting for me. Hehe.

This is not a widely known fact, but last December 15, aside from approving the proposal increasing the tuition of incoming UP students by 300+%, the Board of Regents (BOR) also approved annual tuition increases based on the Philippine’s national inflation rate.

Many of the pro-tuition increase advocates justify their support by claiming that this is more of a pragmatic issue from the side of the university administration rather than an issue of ideological shift. They claim that while the government cannot provide what it needs (a claim we also contend), it’s imperative for the university to source part of its fund from the “scholars” themselves for the meantime. But what does the annual increase in tuition prove? The approval of an annual increase in tuition simply proves right what we’ve been harping all along, that the tuition increase proposal isn’t just an act of “last resort,” it is a total surrender and an ideological submission to the government’s real plan of slowly abandoning its constitutional mandate to provide quality tertiary education to its people, all in part of the national administration’s medium and long-term higher education development plans. An annual tuition increase adjustment ultimately strips the University of the Philippines much of its character as a state university because it permanently mandates the university to source part of its finances from the nation’s university scholars themselves.

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Despite the persistent withholding of its funds by the UP administration, the Philippine Collegian has been able to release a couple of ‘rebel’ issues the past months through financial soliciations and through the internet (by their usual .PDF files). You may download a copy of the latest issue from the editor-in-chief’s multiply account here or through the paper’s deviantart site here.

Editorial Day of Reckoning | News BOR approves 300% tuition increase for incoming freshmen: Student, faculty regents unable to vote in delibs | Tambayan ng Gabriela Youth, nilooban: Mga polyetong may lagda ng PKP, iniwan ng suspek | Susunod na mga rehente ng mag-aaral, guro, napili na | Gahasa sa Konstitusyon | Peli(kulang)? | Chronology of resistance: December 15 in retrospect | Kultura R/Dekonstruksyon | On Duty: Sa Mata ng Isang Guwardiya | “Sariling desisyon” | Jump Cut | Eskapo | Parol, Parada, Panaginip | Graphics | WOW Diliman | Opinion | Acrobat(ics)

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