Editorial Board
Editor-In-Chief: Sharmaine Canama
Associate Editor For Reveille: Sophia Therese Del Castillo
Associate Editor For Sinag: Mickaella Joyce Dumayag
Associate Editors For Social Media: Ayesha Tulete, Zacharee Masamayor
Managing Editors: Vinz Harrold Basilio, Renz Marion Suarez
News Editor : Wisey Democrito
Sports Editor: Yusrhina Usman
Feature Editor: Shariful Mansul
Copyreader (English): Yves Joey Flores
Communications Officer: Kelly Cassandra Teja
Head Cartoonist: Karl Onayan
Head Photojournalist: Teriez Michove Bokingkito
Head Layout Artist: Neil Ericsson Miro
Adviser: Mrs. Leah M. Panaguiton
WRITERS
Hemelyn Jilian Renee Agayam, Almira Almiñana, Alfaruc Andas, Aungus Alpasain, Paula Alexis Ando, Jefferson Aray, Clairizza Arcillas, Fadzrati Asarud, Raye Angelique Bongabong, Jillian Rene Calo, Patricia Calinawan, Cybrealle Cruz, Vina Espejo, John Fabian, Fatima Marwa Fadzlulkarim, Sheriemike Gadin, Nicole Gagula, Rosen Gabriel Garcia, Jehanne Hassan, Raihana Habbi, Fatma Shaheen Hadjirul, Shariefa Jadji, Fatima Riesa Karay, Myron Larracochea, Kristian Ken Mabalot, Annsel Magno, Kiana Mae Morgia, Shifa Naeem Erika Jenn Quisil, Patrick Dale Angelo C. Rivera, Kristine Segayo, Chrizelle Jane Sicat, Rolly Songcayauon, Renzo Tan, Alyssa Tubilag
CARTOONISTS
Jonie Alaban, Ayana Dawn Atis, Ma. Sofia Carro Falcasantos, Crystalane Hagonoy, Shamy Jailani, Francis Jae Oliveros, Maria Reolyn Pilones, Allysa Marie Ramiso, Gwen Toribio
PHOTOJOURNALISTS
Rochelle Elaine Bautista, Denzel Bautista, Jean Clarice Bue, Sean Vincent Del Castillo, Christianne Denise Ebreo, Zefanie Fernandez, Lance Kirby Gigante, James Hamoy, Charlene Laran, Jerecho Salinel, Danielle Joen Mercado, Gian Dominic Pareja, Shannen Semil, Edweena Saipuddin, Deanna Toledo
VIDEOGRAPHERS
Kezzia Jeiel Luzon, Peter Valmonte
LAYOUT ARTISTS
Martha Bernaldez, Ann Jucylle F. Ellorin, Charlene Lizardo, Jan Angelo Tan Belda, Rashid Ian Taupan, Abeer Uri
The new academic year is right around the corner, continuing the virtual legacy of the previous one, as reality slaps us with the “NO-ENTRY” sign. The silence is loud on the campus grounds since there are no students to put an end to the dead air around. Empty hallways, no cafeteria lines, and vacant seats, for students who go to school without going to school. It may seem as if the light at the
by: Teriez Michove C. Bokingkito
EDITOR’S
Normalcy feels nostalgic
After a year of what feels like yesterday, the status quo makes it harder for us to go back to our pre-pandemic college life. For over a year of pressing red “end call” buttons, somehow our 3-hour synchronous lesson feels longer and draining than our usual 8-hour school days. Even though the distance learning makes it easier for us to go to class, we would still want to endure the morning traffic to get to La Purisima over online screens, but only if we could. We’ve conquered a year without hearing the life story of our professors, the wheel of names instead of index cards during recitations, and the never-ending deadlines before 11:59 PM. The candid moments inside our century-old classrooms, our shared silences during exams, and even the lunch (as well as the parts of ourselves) we’ve shared with our classmates whom we might never see next semester are now just moments of normalcy we feel nostalgic for. As students, none of us moved on easily because we never prepared ourselves to even say goodbye.
Our shared feelings of longing also mean hoping for a post-COVID world where we no longer have to be six feet away from each other. For now, we are left with dealing online education issues and making these circumstances work for us. From Newsroom to Zoom rooms, The BEACON Publications have successfully navigated its way beyond the gates of the university. For over seven decades of being the voice and the light of the student body, this issue brings you what The BEACON stands for—to make the academe heedful of its grievances. As we reflect on the stumbling blocks of School Year 2020, the publication wishes you to find the light moving forward.
On behalf of the Editorial Board 2020-2021, we thank the Ateneo community for believing in the power of campus press freedom during this time of great peril. In hindsight, the legacy of excellence in journalism continues.
Sharmaine G. Canama
The BEACON Publications Editor-in-Chief
ALL CRAMMED UP
BY AYESHA S. TULETE
Our memories hate it when we cram large pieces of information in a short period of time and this hatred leads our brain to dump information it deems unnecessary. Now, imagine an entire semester of information squeezed into seven weeks, could you fathom how our brain deals with this?
Ateneo de Zamboanga University, with its RIGHT Learning, rolled out the Academic Year 2020-2021 online, dividing each semester into two sessions. Each session consisted of 3 to 4 subjects lasting for 7 weeks—examinations included. At the time it was proposed, it seemed bearable. Compared to the usual load of around 8 subjects, how hard can half of it be? Besides, the university had to adjust its operations by totally shifting the learning platform online. It was a reasonable decision.
But then the second semester came and all hell broke loose. True to form, it had been extra demanding in terms of subject difficulty. Get this: you were still trying to comprehend last week’s lecture yet another set of PDFs—that were definitely a lot more challenging—came rushing in. That was like getting smacked in the face but toned down by a bit. It was a question of passing or learning, and to achieve both was a feat.
A single session went by so fast that one had a tough time recalling on the 7th week what was supposed to be mastered from the fleeting 6 weeks. It wasn’t because there was nothing to learn, but it was because there was so much to learn in so little time.
The thing is, it wasn’t just students who were always on overdrive. Teachers—at least the ones who take their jobs
seriously—had to juggle weekly assessments and weekly lecture preparation with little to no rest in between. In fact, some teachers have been torn between giving out course requirements that were essential for learning or lessening the load to somehow relieve the students’ burden.
Perceiving the situation at a distance, 7 weeks appear to be justifiable if the only goal was to graduate as soon as possible. But AdZU takes pride in its Jesuit education. It doesn’t regard learning as a joke, as it should; and fingers crossed, it continues to do so.
This is undeniably a new setup with catastrophic extents, and very few have managed to adjust just yet. The truth is, we cannot point fingers at anyone. No one’s at fault—well, except for COVID-19. But if the ones who have a say in the decision-making of these sorts of matters will turn a blind eye once the grievances have been communicated, that’s where it gets complicated. Skepticism aside, there’s always something to learn and improve on the missteps of the past. It is only imperative that we look back and dissect how the academic year went. With the released school calendar for A.Y. 2021-2022, a session will now span for 9 weeks instead of 7, with a semester still segmented into two sessions.
Will things be easier for us now? Not likely. School’s never been easy, especially during a pandemic. Will this improve both our learning and teaching experience? We can anticipate. Will our brain finally hold up? Let’s hope so.
*Cartoon Credits: Ayana Atis
FEATURE
Onerous is an understatement to describe the current set-up of class for students in the cities. With all the feedback heard from them online, it is no doubt that the pandemic took a turn on how they handle their battle on the “new normal” academe. But, hearken closely to that other grappling echo, faint and inaudible in the background. With greater odds of vanquishment, they are also in the same battle – hands tied, hopes broken. Provincial students who chose to study in a university located in the city despite the current situation knew the high risk of the decision they made. But for the sake of their dreams, the interference of the pandemic is not the one to stop them from reaching it –despite the unavailability of data and what statistics imply. These inherent risks rule the scale of hardship on how they would handle the online class. The fundamental necessity for this type of class is the internet connection yet, without a doubt, provinces have it the worst. For most of the households, during the day it is considered lucky to have a three-bar status on a wi-fi modem while the mobile data is an H+ disguised in 4G. It gets more dreadful at nighttime. Some have gone as far as buying wi-fi extenders that barely improve the situation. It is a not-so-fun mile-long, a mountain-high adventure, or a rule-breaking trip downtown in search of a fairly okay internet con-
nection.
Is there a choice for the students? With almost everything done online, from synchronous to asynchronous classes, the only other way to avoid the risk is to drop the class. It is hard when the teacher speaks way ahead of what you can see from your screen. Students from “far-flung” areas are also disadvantageous with the fact that the physical resources required for a subject arrive at them later than anyone else like when the books reach them only after 4-6 weeks into the semester.
These are all heart-shattering moments students from the countryside go through every single day since the beginning of the classes. One whole year of doing the same things and nothing has changed. A year of repeating the same excuses and the only thing that improves is the worsening anxiety when students worry if their teachers will not get tired of giving consideration to their “unrealistic and redundant” reasons with the slap on the face that the class won’t adjust to them minority because they don’t occupy a significant population.
Going to the city is an option easier said than done. It is not only the intermittent connection you must take into consideration but you also have to go through your pockets and see to it that there are enough silver-plated coins and number of bills truly and
genuinely smiling at you, that would serve as your gateway to so-called salvation in the “comforts” of the city. Let us not forget the inconvenience of laying the groundwork for travel requirements to get in Zamboanga in hopes of having a better performance during online classes.
With that, it is quite ironic how online setup could have been a great fortuity to the majority because, as per se, it is convenient as we enjoy the leisureliness in the comforts of our home. Unfortunately, students living in provinces with lazy connections add up to the list of problems we are facing during the trying times of pandemic as if we are not exhausted enough. On a serious note, it is no longer the grades and results per quizzes that baffles the minds of these students. MENTAL HEALTH is now the number one priority and it is upsetting to hear that as much as you want to prioritize your health, it is as if we are ought to feel guilty for not attending online classes. Hands tied, hopes broken, added up with a faint heart and delicate mind are weapons we carry in a battle that we are unfairly fighting. Will there be some hope of ceasing this predicament? Will there be still a pot of gold in this dreary rainbow? When? When will this all be over? Because we can’t, no more.
*Cartoon Credits: Francis Oliveros
*Cartoon Credits: Maria Pilones
