Challenges, challenges and more challenges ACCORDING to Albert Mitchell Locsin, president of the Contact Center Association of the Philip pines (CCAP) and also first vice president and Enterprise Revenue Group head at PLDT Enterprise, A broader look at today’s business (2017, Patria OTHER END OF THE LINE’
EJAP JOURNALISM AWARDS BUSINESS NEWS SOURCE OF THE YEAR
M any of the business-process outsourcing (BPO) players in the Philippines were forced to impro vise so as not to disrupt services to clients.Most provided transportation to employees who will work onsite. Extensive coordination was done with concerned government Cov id-19 response authorities to secure permits for employees so they can go out of their homes and work onsite. Many even provided accom modations at nearby hotels or dor mitories, or even inside company premises, complete with board and lodging, all at company expense. But the work-from-home
2018, 2019, 2020) DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 2018 BANTOG MEDIA AWARDS ROTARY CLUB OF MANILA JOURNALISM AWARDS 2006 National Newspaper of the Year 2011 National Newspaper of the Year 2013 Business Newspaper of the Year 2017 Business Newspaper of the Year 2019 Business Newspaper of the Year 2021 Pro
www.businessmirror.com.ph n Sunday, August 14, 2022 Vol. 17 No. 310 P25.00 nationwide | 2 sections 12 pages | 7 DAYS A WEEK
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 55.4740 n JAPAN 0.4171 n UK 67.6838 n HK 7.0725 n CHINA 8.2245 n SINGAPORE 40.4949 n AUSTRALIA 39.4032 n EU 57.2769 n KOREA 0.0425 n SAUDI ARABIA 14.7695 Source: BSP (August 12, 2022) DREAMSTIME.COMADONIS1969
The roadmap, Locsin contin ues, will be launched during the Contact Islands, CCAP’s biggest one yet to be held in Boracay, from October 19 to 22, 2022. This will be the first time the event will be held on a face-to-face basis, and offi cials from the new administration were also invited so that they will see the roadmap first hand. “One of the topics to be dis cussed is a study done by McKin sey on employee preference, which we hope the government can also hear because there is really this strong preference of working from home,” Locsin said. He added that they will not just tackle the WFH issue, but also a lot of global macroeco nomic issues like the RussiaUkraine war, high fuel prices and transportation costs, and more. Locsin said that with the new ad ministration, they are hoping to get more flexibility and finality, no deadlines and stick to a year or two-year type of engagement, whether 50-50, 60-40 so every
(WFH) concept came up, as long as employees can put up decent work areas—strong Internet connectiv ity, quiet surroundings—to ensure that service remains topnotch and will hit their productivity targets. Some companies even provided In ternet and electricity allowance so that service continues.
LOCSIN: “Finally, the WFH methodology was proven that indeed, it worked just as long as good Internet connectivity and working environment, and compliance by WFH agents to cybersecurity and data privacy is met. And in 2021, this WFH was proven further because we grew by 9 percent. Actually, a handful of the big players even grew by 14 percent.”
the pandemic brought a lot of chal lenges to them. However, despite these upheavals, pandemic and all, the industry still grew by 2 percent in 2020.Finally, the WFH method ology was proven that indeed, it worked just as long as good Inter net connectivity and working envi ronment, and compliance by WFH agents to cybersecurity and data privacy is met. And in 2021, this WFH was proven further because we grew by 9 percent. Actually, a handful of the big players even grew by 14 percent,” Locsin said. He said that if you average the numbers, starting from the small and medium enterprises, the midand big-tier BPOs, the industry grew by 9 percent last year. Despite the WFH setup, the information technology-business process man agement (IT-BPM) industry earned $29.5 billion in revenues last year, with 1.44 million full-time em ployees, and many are still hiring. However, Locsin said their ma jor challenge last year was the chal lenge posed by the government, which told BPO firms they will lose their incentives if they don’t go back to work onsite this year. A “hybrid” work setup was then floated as a compromise, where a percentage of workers will work onsite and some will go the WFH route. A few months ago, the govern ment, through the Fiscal Incen tives Review Board (FIRB), told BPO companies to require their workers to return to on-site work by April 1, 2022, at the risk of los ing their fiscal incentives. A dead line was given up to September 12, but the industry was granted a 70-30 setup, where 70 percent will work onsite and 30 percent on WFHButarrangement.theBPOindustry is still looking at a lot of flexibility around that because it’s been proven to work where they still continue to receive their incentives, and that’s our new action items for this year with the new administration, and also for CCAP coming into a sixyear roadmap, which is in the same timeline as a new six-year adminis tration so we can measure it prop erly,” Locsin explained.
A lthough a large portion wants to work from home, mainly because of concerns such as high transportation cost and commut ing time, a small percentage of agents would like to work at the office. These are people who do not have good working conditions at home and fear they will not hit their service level agreements (SLA) when working at home. High hopes ACCORDING to Locsin, they have never grown this big and the WFH or probably the hybrid setup does work, but the question now, he continued, is this: will the new government provide the industry some flexibility and finality on how many percent will be allowed to work onsite and at home? “We’re glad they’re open to suggestions and they are asking for numbers, so that’s where the collaboration starts,” Locsin said, referring to the Marcos administration. A s for the planned lifting of the National State of Health Emer gency, Locsin expressed caution on whether the country is indeed ready for a facemask-less society. “I believe wearing of face masks should still be retained. Cases are rising lately so probably give it a few more months, say, November or December, to assess it further. But it’s better to get finality as early as now rather than announcing it later in September and everybody is scrambling. That’s one of our goals, to be given time. The lift and shift of people, powering up the of fices, will take time for the BPOs,” he concluded.
Employee morale with WFH LOCSIN said they’ve been doing a top-level meeting with the country directors of 10 BPOs in the country for the past month and a half, sort of a brainstorming session. They reported that attrition rates have gone up, mainly because employees will ask to be allowed to work from home and if not, will find another company that will allow them, adding also what he called an “unregistered” industry that’s also growing, yet untaxed: those that offer English “training” for other countries, and also the “virtual assistant,” a secretary as sisting an executive. “It’s affecting us now and contact-center agents prefer that because pay is higher and they are not taxed. But they haven’t really looked at the bigger picture, like they don’t have medical benefits. There are so many things around it that they don’t understand, but that’s also part of the attrition,” Locsin said.
By Rory Visco DEFINITELY, the outsourcing industry was one of the hardest-hit business sectors in the country, and even in the whole world, amid the onslaught of the lingering Covid-19 pandemic. body can start complying and not waiting for a deadline to happen. L ocsin also exuded excitement and hope, and believes the new ad ministration will be good to the in dustry, “but we just have to do a lot of work from our end to show some numbers.”Hesaid the government has to create that balance with real estate and retail, and showing some num bers, a country case or business case on the balance that will still benefit the retail and real-estate industry, and the BPO industry as a whole, he continued.
Award PHILIPPINE STATISTICS AUTHORITY 2018 Data Champion ‘THE
What’s next for PHL outsourcing industry in the ‘new normal’?
Entire families leave their homes in India’s vast rural hinter lands to camp at such bazaars, found in nearly every city. Out of the many gathered in Manesar recently, only a lucky few got work for the day—dig ging roads, laying bricks and sweep ing up trash for meager pay—about 80 percent of Indian workers toil in informal jobs including many who are self-employed.India’sphenomenal trans formation from an impoverished nation in 1947 into an emerging global power whose $3-trillion economy is Asia’s third largest has turned it into a major exporter of things like software and vaccines. Millions have escaped poverty into a growing, aspirational middle class as its high-skilled sectors have“soared.It’sextraordinary—a poor country like India wasn’t expected to succeed in such sectors,” said Ni mish Adhia, an economics profes sor at Manhattanville College.
JOB aspirants standing outside a packed venue listen to an official after larger-than-anticipated numbers of candidates turned up for interviews organized by the state-run employability center in Kochi, Kerala state, India, on July 8, 2022. Raging unemployment is worsening insecurity and inequality between the rich and poor as the country marks 75 years of independence from British rule on August 15. AP
NEW
“ We get work only once or twice a week,” said Sugna, who says she earned barely 2,000 ru pees ($25) in the past five months. “What should I do with a life like this? If I live like this, how will my children live any better?”
New challenges THE past few decades inspired comparisons to China as foreign investment poured in, exports thrived and new industries—like information technology—were born. But India, a latecomer to off shoring by Western multination als, is struggling to create mass employment through manufactur ing. And it faces new challenges in plotting a way forward. Financing has tended to flow into profitable, capital-intensive sectors like petrol, metal and chem icals. Industries employing large numbers of workers, like textiles and leather work, have faltered. This trend continued through the pandemic: despite Modi’s 2014 “Make in India’” pitch to turn the country into another factory floor for the world, manufacturing now employs around 30 million. In 2017, it employed 50 million, ac cording to CMIE data. A s factory and private sector employment shrink, young job seekers increasingly are targeting government jobs, coveted for their security, prestige and benefits. Some, like 21-year-old Sahil Rajput, view such work as a way out of poverty. Rajput has been fervently preparing for a job in the army, working in a low-paid dataentry job to afford private coaching to become a soldier and support his unemployed parents. But in June, the government overhauled military recruitment to cut costs and modernize, changing long-term postings into four-year contracts after which only 25 per cent of recruits will be retained. Th at move triggered weeks of protests, with young people setting vehicles on fire. R ajput knows he might not be able to get a permanent army job. “But I have no other options,” he said. “How can I dream of a future when my present is in tatters?”
the sleepy, dusty village of Manesar into a booming industrial hub, cranking out everything from cars and sinks to smartphones and tablets. But jobs have run scarce over the years, prompting more and more workers to line up along the road for work, desperate to earn money.
Every day, Sugna, a young woman in her early 20s who goes by her first name, comes with her husband and two children to the city’s labor chowk—a bazaar at the junction of four roads where hundreds of workers gather daily at day break to plead for work. It’s been days since she or her husband got work and she has only five ru pees (six cents) in hand. Scenes like this are an everyday reality for millions of Indians, the most visible signs of eco nomic distress in a country where raging unem ployment is worsening insecurity and inequality between the rich and poor. It’s perhaps Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s biggest challenge as the country marks 75 years of independence from British rule on Monday.
NewsSunday BusinessMirror www.businessmirror.com.phSunday, August 14, 2022A2 At 75, India seeks way forward in big but job-scarce economy
Th at’s partly because agricul ture remains the mainstay, with about 40 percent of workers en gaged in farming. A s workers lost jobs in cities during the pandemic, many flocked back to farms, pushing up the numbers. “This didn’t necessarily improve productivity—but you’re employed as a farmer. It’s disguised unemployment,” Vyas said. With independence from Brit ain in 1947, the country’s leaders faced a formidable task: GDP was a mere 3 percent of the world’s total, literacy rates stood at 14 percent and the average life expectancy was 32 years, said Adhia. By the most recent measures, literacy stands at 74 percent and life expectancy at 70 years. Dra matic progress came with historic reforms in the 1990s that swept away decades of socialist control over the economy and spurred re markable growth.
World’s fastest growing economy THIS year, the economy is forecast to expand at a 7.4-percent annual pace, according to the Internation al Monetary Fund, making it one of the world’s fastest growing. But even as India’s economy swells, so has joblessness. The un employment rate remains at 7 per cent to 8 percent in recent months. Only 40 percent of working age In dians are employed, down from 46 percent five years ago, the Center for Monitoring the Indian Econo my (CMIE) says. If you look at a poor person in 1947 and a poor person now, they are far more privileged today. However if you look at it between the haves and the have-nots, that chasm has grown,” said Gayathri Vasudevan, chairperson of Labour Net, a social enterprise. “ While India continues to grow well, that growth is not generating enough jobs—crucially, it is not creating enough good quality jobs,” said Mahesh Vyas, chief executive at CMIE. Only 20 percent of jobs in India are in the formal sector, with regular wages and security, while most others are precarious and low-quality with few to no benefits.
The ‘bright spot’ THE government is banking on technology, a rare bright spot, to create new jobs and opportunities. Two decades ago, India became an outsourcing powerhouse as compa nies and call centers boomed. An explosion of start-ups and digital innovation aims to recreate that success—“India is now home to 75,000 start-ups in the 75th year of independence and this is only the beginning,” Minister of Com merce, Piyush Goyal, tweeted re cently. More than 740,000 jobs have been created via start-ups, a 110-percent jump over the last six years, his ministry said. There’s still a long way to go, in educating and training a labor force qualified for such work. An other worry is the steady retreat of working women in India—from a high of nearly 27 percent in 2005 to just over 20 percent in 2021, ac cording to World Bank data. Meanwhile, the stopgap of farming appears increasingly pre carious as climate change brings extreme temperatures, scorching crops.Sajan Arora, a 28-year-old farmer in India’s breadbasket state of Punjab, can no longer de pend on ancestral farmland his family has relied on to survive. He, his wife and seven-month old daughter, plan to join a family in Britain and find work there after selling some Agricultureland.has no way for ward,” said Arora, saying he will do whatever work he can get, driving a taxi, working in a store or on a con struction site. He’s sad to leave his parents and childhood home behind, but believes the uncertainty of change offers “better prospects” than his current reality. If everything was right and well, why would we go? If we want a better life, we will have to leave,” he said.
By Krutika Pathi & Bhumika Saraswati The Associated Press factoriesgrew,India’sDELHI—Aseconomythehumofturned
BusinessMirror Sunday, August 14, 2022 The World www.businessmirror.com.ph • Editor: Angel R. Calso A3
C LEVELAND—In a world increasingly troubled by the persistent harm that plastic— manufactured in petrochemical plants—has had on the environment, companies are investing billions of dollars to ramp up production of plastics made from natural, renewable materials that can be safely composted or can biodegrade under the right conditions.
‘Quasi-preneurs’ see opportunity, challenges in franchising
By Tarso Veloso W HILE the outlook for global crops is improving from the tumultuous weeks after Russia’s attack on Ukraine, the threats of drought, flooding and blistering heat are keeping supplies tight and prices elevated. Crop futures have retreated to pre-war levels, and the UN’s monthly measure of food prices sank the most since 2008. That’s offering some relief to consumers who have faced rampant food inflation since the start of the pandemic. Still, the war is putting more pressure on farmers from the US to India to replace crop losses and make up for the shortfall in supplies from Ukraine, normally a key shipper to poorer nations in the Middle East and Africa. How much they can provide is in question. Major producers like the US, Brazil and Argentina have been facing yield issues over the last few years thanks to scorching heat, supporting prices at higher levels. Global production of corn and soybeans in 2021-2022 fell short of initial forecasts by 45 million tons. The US Department of Agriculture on Friday is expected to cut its outlook for this year’s US corn and soybean yields, according to analysts polled by Bloomberg, while wheat likely fared better. “Unlike recent years every single bushel of production matters and even a small yield loss of 1 percent-2 percent relative to trend is concerning given current tightness in US and global balance sheets,” said Ben Buckner, grains analyst for Chicago-based AgResource Co. In Europe, the searing heat could shrink the European Union’s grains harvest by 5 percent versus last season, according to the European Commission. Corn crops have been particularly battered by the scorching weather, boosting the bloc’s import needs and increasing costs for livestock farmers. Agriculture heavyweight France is suffering its worst drought on record and fields are drying up across other key producers like Germany and Romania.Thesituation is already critical, said Vincent Braak, a crop analyst at Strategie Grains. “Even if rains come back, for corn production, it is far too late for good yields now because pollination is done almost everywhere. We are worried for all summer crops. Even with irrigation, this temperature is totally crazy.”This year’s French corn harvest is estimated at 12.66 million tons, down 19 percent year-over-year, the country’s agriculture ministry said in a report. If confirmed, it will be the lowest since 2016, according to USDA data. In India, temperatures soared in March to the highest ever for the month on record going back to 1901, shriveling the country’s biggest winter-sown crop during a crucial growth period. That prompted authorities to prohibit wheat exports in May to safeguard domestic supplies and to control rising prices. Rice, another important Indian crop, was planted on a smaller area so far this season due to a lack of rainfall in some main growing areas, including West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh, which account for a quarter of the country’s output. This will potentially reduce production and may trigger restrictions on shipments from India, which accounts for 40 percent of global rice trade. Soybean futures in Chicago, which rose above $17 per bushel after the invasion, advanced for a second day on Wednesday, rising 0.2 percent to $14.3125, while corn and wheat were steady. The war in Ukraine is also impacting future harvests. So far, grain exports are down 49 percent year-over-year and seeding has been compromised. In a sign of shifting trade flows, Egypt, the world’s largest wheat importer, is buying much more French wheat than normal for this time of the year. There are exceptions: Australian growers expect to pull off a decent wheat crop this season, after favorable conditions encouraged farmers to ramp up planting to near-record levels. While those supplies won’t be harvested for a few months, Australian exporters are still shipping out surplus grain from previous seasons following two consecutive years of bumper output. Canada, the world’s top canola grower and a major wheat exporter, is also having a good growing season so far. Russia is set to be the biggest market winner with a massive harvest, though shipments are slower than usual as exporters must find vessels, crews and insure ships. Cooling demand THERE is also some good news in the form of cooling demand from China, the world’s biggest grains buyer. China’s corn imports in the first half of the year sank 11 percent from a year ago, while wheat imports during the same period fell 7.8 percent and soybeans 5.4 percent from the previous year, according to customs data. Poor margins in the massive livestock industry also curbed appetite for the crops as feed ingredients, and China’s imports of palm oil have weakened as its Covid Zero policy cuts demand from the restaurant and catering industries. When the war broke out, prices spiked on the assumption that exports from the Black Sea would stop completely. Now, as more vessels find their way out, most of the “war premium” has disappeared from futures. One big question is if shipments will continue to increase enough to offset smaller than expected crops elsewhere. For the next harvests this year and in 2023, the USDA is forecasting a record global soybean crop, but that will rely on the highest ever production from Brazil and the US and the biggest output from Argentina since 2018. On corn and wheat, output is expected to be smaller that the previous season. For futures to sink back to previous years’ levels, both hemispheres would need back-to-back bumper harvests, something that hasn’t happened since 2013-2014. A lingering La Nina weather pattern continues to affect crops in parts of South America, making it less likely to happen this year. “Ideally, we’d see mother nature cooperate in both hemispheres for a full 12 months,” Buckner said. With assistance from Hallie Gu, Sybilla Gross, Eko Listiyorini, Pratik Parija and Megan Durisin/Bloomberg.
By Mae Anderson AP Business Writer N EW YORK—In 2020, Kelly Jackson and Davina Arceneaux wanted to leave their company jobs and become business owners. They were looking for something both Covid-proof andInsteadrecession-resistant.ofcompletelystepping out from under a corporate umbrella, they looked at franchising. The two worried about the notoriously tight margins for restaurants. They looked at a drug testing franchise, but the initial investment was too steep. A franchising mentor told them about Motto Mortgage Home Services, and Jackson and Arceneaux opened one in Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois, in July of 2020 with an initial investment of $35,000. “People always need new places to live and are always buying and selling houses,” Jackson said. He takes rising interest rates in stride. “Interest rates move up and down, that’s what they do, that’s part of the industry.” Jackson and Arceneaux, who had been a senior IT program and project manager and an assistant director of catering, respectively, had no experience with mortgages, but Motto Mortgage provided training and support. “You don’t necessarily need experience in that industry in order to go into that category, the brand will train you,” said Matt Haller, president and CEO of the International Franchise Association. In the months after the pandemic hit, many people with corporate jobs decided to strike out on their own, in what’s referred to as the “Great Resignation.” They looked for alternatives, including opening up a franchise with an established brand. The “quasi-preneurs” opening franchises say they like the ability to buy into a proven brand name and the access to tools and operations that you wouldn’t get if you started your own small business. But franchising has plenty of challenges, too. There are a lot of rules and regulations to abide by. Contracts are lengthy and can be difficult to terminate. The number of US franchises grew an estimated 3 percent in 2021 to 774,965 after a dip in 2020, according to IFA. Those include big franchises like McDonald’s or 7-Eleven, but all types of businesses can be franchised, from pool cleaners to barbershops.Thereare about 3,000 franchisor brands in the US. The IFA predicts franchises in the US will grow 2 percent to 792,014 this year. That’s still just a fraction of the 32.5 million total small businesses in the US. Franchise owners buy in with an initial fee—anywhere from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars to get their business, and then pay a monthly royalty percentage. In return, they get use of the brand name and marketing, and other support. As a classically trained pastry chef, Helen Kim often dreamed of owning her own bakery. But when she decided to strike out on her own, Kim thought building a business from scratch would be “too big of a mountain for me to climb.” While working at the Aria Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Kim was a frequent customer at Paris Baguette. She was impressed, and last year bought a Paris Baguette franchise in the city with her sister. While the financial requirements are strict—according to the company website, franchisees need a net worth of $1.5 million and $500,000 in liquid assets—Kim said it was worth it. While the money invested in a franchise is still at risk if the business fails, brand name recognition and franchisor support offer more of a safety net than establishing an unknownHowever,brand.getting used to a franchise structure can be an adjustment. When Chris Dordell and his husband Jason Fenske decided to leave their jobs at Wells Fargo and Salesforce and open two Club Pilates in 2018 and a YogaSix studio in
Billions pour into bioplastics as markets begin ramping up Bioplastics have long been used in medical applications. The stitches you got after cut ting your hand slicing onions were likely made of a bioplastic thread that harmlessly dissolved into your body. But the nascent bioplastics in dustry envisions a far bigger role for materials made from corn, sugar, vegetable oils and other re newable materials in the hope of grabbing a larger share of a nearly $600 billion global plastic market. Since large-scale production began in the 1950s, fossil fuel plastics have made food safer to consume and vehicles safer to drive, for example. Yet plastics are seen as one of the world’s leading environmental threats with its production responsible for emit ting million tons of greenhouse gases each year. Of the 9 billion tons of fossil fuel plastic produced since the 1950s, only 9 percent percent has been recycled, studies have shown. The rest has been buried in landfills, burned or has polluted land and waterways. The chemi cal structure of fossil fuel plastic means it can never fully disinte grate and instead breaks down into smaller and smaller particles. For now, bioplastic represents just 1 percent of global plastic production. If plastic made with fossil fuels is the enormous Mall of America in Minnesota, bio plastics would be a 7-Eleven. Companies and investors see op portunities. Data from i3 Connect show investment in bioplastic manu facturing reached $500 million in the first three months of 2022, exceeding the previous high of $350 million in the last quarter of 2021. The money is coming in from both corporations and venture capitalists.
One of the criticisms of bioplas tic made with corn and sugar is that it uses arable land on a hungry planet. Ford called that concern unfounded. NatureWorks uses sugar extracted from corn while the rest of the kernels are used to produce sweeteners, ethanol, cooking oils and livestock feed. PLA, unlike PHA, does not eas ily biodegrade in nature. It needs to be mixed with food waste in in dustrial composters to biodegrade. When buried in landfills, PLA will eventually disintegrate, but that would likely take decades. NatureWorks has formed a partnership with PHA manu facturer CJ Bio to produce a bioplastic that can more easily biodegrade. The company, head quartered in South Korea, is ex panding its plant in Indonesia and is planning to build a large plant in the Americas, said Raj Kirsch, vice president of research and development at CJ Bio. Blending the two types of bio plastic “brings a lot of value propo sitions to the final end product,” Kirsch said in an interview. Ramani Narayan, a professor of chemical engineering at Michigan State University, has worked with Cargill in the past to help with PLA production.Narayan said companies are using biodegradability claims to make their products more attrac tive to consumers. But the term is “misused, abused and overused because everything in the world is biodegradable given the right time andCalifornia,environment.”Narayan noted, has banned the use of the term “bio degradable” in marketing. The world needs to replace petroleum plastic with plastic materials that have been verified and certified as completely biodegradable, he said. Narayan acknowledged that bi oplastics are easier to biodegrade than petrochemical plastic, which can take centuries to disintegrate, shedding worrisome microplastic along the way. Yet the fact that PHA takes longer to break down in cold oceans and lakes than in temperate climes shouldn’t be sugarcoated. “It will take time, and you need to say that,” Narayan said.
Global food inflation eases, but threats of drought, flooding keep supplies tight
Zion Market Research esti mates the bioplastics market will surge from $10.5 billion in 2021 to some $29 billion in 2028. Danimer Scientific is one com pany making a big bet on bioplas tic with a recent expansion of its plant in Winchester, Kentucky. The Georgia-based firm makes a bioplastic called PHA using mi croorganisms that ferment with canola oil. The result is plastic pellets that manufacturers can use to mold products in the same way they use petrochemical plastic, Danimer CEO Stephen Croskrey said in an interview. The expansion has made Danimer one of the largest PHA producers in the world. Straws and plastic drink stir rers made from Danimer’s PHA are being used in Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts and large venues like Sofi Stadium in Inglewood, California, Croskrey said. “We have active development projects for just about anything you can imagine,” he said. Testing has shown products made from Danimer’s PHA can biodegrade in six months in ma rine environments and two years in soil, Croskrey said. The other primary bioplastic sold today is PLA, polylactic acid, usually produced by fermenting sugar from corn and sugar cane. One producer is Minneapolisbased NatureWorks, a joint ven ture by Cargill, one of the world’s largest privately-held corpora tions, and Thailand-based PTT Global Chemical. It is the largest PLA company in the world, capable of producing 150,000 metric tons of bioplastic pellets annually at a plant in Blair, NatureWorksNebraska.isbuilding a $600 million plant in Thailand that will increase its production capacity by 50 percent, said Leah Ford, the company’s global marketing communications manager, in an interview.Thecompany’s “biggest vis ibility market,” Ford said, is com postable food service items such as plastic cutlery, clear cups, wrap pers and containers that, along with restaurant food waste, can be converted into a dark organic material to enrich soil in gardens and on farms. That’s important because food waste clogs recycling machinery and contaminates recy clable petroleum plastics. Some Starbucks stores use dis posable cups lined with Nature Works’ PLA, Ford said. NatureWorks has become some thing of a game changer in the United Kingdom, where PG Tips, a big name in tea, has switched from polyester tea bags to bags made with cellulose and a thin layer of NatureWorks’ PLA that are fully compostable, Ford said. Researchers at McGill Univer sity in Montreal released a study in 2019 that said petroleum-based polyester tea bags leach billions of microplastic particles when steeped in hot water. Around 60 billion cups of tea are consumed annually in the UK.
2020, in and around Palm Springs, they appreciated the playbook provided by the franchisor, Xponential. “It was appealing at this stage after being in corporate jobs for 20-plus years that we could plug into an existing model,” Dordell said. But Dordell said following the corporate rulebook took some adjusting to. There were some costs incurred while building the franchises that could have been cut, but “in keeping the consistency across the company, we were required to follow the model.” If a franchisor changes corporate management or gets sold, a franchisee can be left in the lurch. Tom Lee and his wife opened a home health care franchise, Home Care Assistance, in Burlington, Vermont, at the end of 2016, after Lee decided to leave his career in sales management for a large company. After initially investing $300,000 and spending three years living on savings and not taking a salary, the business began to take off. Lee currently employs 65 caregivers and had double-digit profit increases in 2020 and 2021. But the franchisor changed ownership and starting buying back franchisees to operate them privately. In 2022 it rebranded to The Key, leaving the remaining 20 or so franchisees, still known as Home Care Assistance, in limbo.
By Mark Gillispie The Associated Press
Experts see Canada’s euthanasia regulations as threat to disabled
Within a month, Nichols sub mitted a request to be euthanized and he was killed, despite concerns raised by his family and a nurse practitioner.Hisapplication for euthanasia listed only one health condition as the reason for his request to die: hearingNichols’loss.family reported the case to police and health authori ties, arguing that he lacked the capacity to understand the process and was not suffering unbear ably—among the requirements for euthanasia. They say he was not taking needed medication, wasn’t using the cochlear implant that helped him hear, and that hospi tal staffers improperly helped him request“Alaneuthanasia.wasbasically put to death,” his brother Gary Nichols said.Disability experts say the story is not unique in Canada, which ar guably has the world’s most per missive euthanasia rules—allow ing people with serious disabilities to choose to be killed in the absence of any other medical issue. Many Canadians support euthanasia and the advocacy group Dying With Dignity says the procedure is “driven by com passion, an end to suffering and discrimination and desire for personal autonomy.” But hu man rights advocates say the country’s regulations lack nec essary safeguards, devalue the lives of disabled people and are prompting doctors and health workers to suggest the proce dure to those who might not otherwise consider it. Equally troubling, advocates say, are instances in which people have sought to be killed because they weren’t getting adequate gov ernment support to live. Canada is set to expand eutha nasia access next year, but these advocates say the system warrants further scrutiny now. Euthanasia “cannot be a default for Canada’s failure to fulfill its human rights obligations,” said Marie-Claude Landry, the head of its Human Rights Commission. Landry said she shares the “grave concern” voiced last year by three UN human rights experts, who wrote that Canada’s eutha nasia law appeared to violate the agency’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights. They said the law had a “discriminatory impact” on disabled people and was incon sistent with Canada’s obligations to uphold international human rightsTimstandards.Stainton, director of the Canadian Institute for Inclusion and Citizenship at the University of British Columbia, described Canada’s law as “probably the big gest existential threat to disabled people since the Nazis’ program in Germany in the 1930s.”
By MARIA CHENG AP Medical Writer
T ORONTO—Alan Nichols had a history of depression and other medical issues, but none were life-threatening. When the 61-yearold Canadian was hospitalized in June 2019 over fears he might be suicidal, he asked his brother to “bust him out” as soon as possible.
Legal in 7 countries EUTHANASIA , where doctors use drugs to kill patients, is legal in seven countries—Belgium, Cana da, Colombia, Luxembourg, Neth erlands, New Zealand and Spain— plus several states in Australia. Other jurisdictions, includ ing several US states, permit as sisted suicide—in which patients take the lethal drug themselves, typically in a drink prescribed by a doctor.InCanada, the two options are referred to as medical assistance in dying, though more than 99.9 percent of such deaths are eu thanasia. There were more than 10,000 deaths by euthanasia last year, an increase of about a third from the previous year. Canada’s road to allowing eu thanasia began in 2015, when its highest court declared that out lawing assisted suicide deprived people of their dignity and au tonomy. It gave national leaders a year to draft legislation. The resulting 2016 law legal ized both euthanasia and assist ed suicide for people aged 18 and over provided they met certain conditions: They had to have a serious condition, disease or dis ability that was in an advanced, irreversible state of decline and enduring “unbearable physical or mental suffering that cannot be relieved under conditions that pa tients consider acceptable.” Their death also had to be “reasonably foreseeable,” and the request for euthanasia had to be approved by at least two physicians. The law was later amended to al low people who are not terminally ill to choose death, significantly broadening the number of eligible people. Critics say that change re moved a key safeguard aimed at protecting people with potentially years or decades of life left. Today, any adult with a serious illness, disease or disability can seek help in dying.
Mounting bills can kill SOME disabled Canadians have decided to be killed in the face of mounting bills. Before being euthanized in Au gust 2019 at age 41, Sean Tagert struggled to get the 24-hour-a-day care he needed. The government provided Tagert, who had Lou Geh rig’s disease, with 16 hours of daily care at his home in Powell River, British Columbia. He spent about 264 Canadian dollars ($206) a day to pay coverage during the other eightHealthhours.authorities proposed t hat Tagert move to an institu tion, but he refused, saying he would be too far from his young son. He called the suggestion “a death sentence” in an interview with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.Beforehis death, Tagert had raised more than CA$16,000 ($12,400) to buy specialized medi cal equipment he needed to live at home with caretakers. But it still wasn’t enough. “I know I’m asking for change,” Tagert wrote in a Facebook post before his death. “I just didn’t realize that was an unacceptable thing to Stainton,do.”the University of Brit ish Columbia professor, pointed out that no province or territory provides a disability benefit in come above the poverty line. In some regions, he said, it is as low as CA$850 ($662) a month—less than half the amount the gov ernment provided to people un able to work during the Covid-19 pandemic.HeidiJanz, an assistant adjunct professor in Disability Ethics at the University of Alberta, said “a per son with disabilities in Canada has to jump through so many hoops to get support that it can often be enough to tip the scales” and lead them to Duclos,euthanasia.thenational health minister, told The Associated Press that he could not comment on specific cases but said all ju risdictions have a broad range of policies to support disabled people. He acknowledged “dis parities in access to services and supports across the country.” Other disabled people say the easy availability of euthanasia has led to unsettling and sometimes frightening discussions. Roger Foley, who has a de generative brain disorder and is hospitalized in London, Ontario, was so alarmed by staffers men tioning euthanasia that he began secretly recording some of their conversations.Inonerecording obtained by the AP, the hospital’s director of ethics told Foley that for him to remain in the hospital, it would cost “north of $1,500 a day.” Foley replied that mentioning fees felt like coercion and asked what plan there was for his long-term care.
Dr. Jean Marmoreo, a family physician who regularly provides euthanasia services in Ontario, has called for specialized panels to provide a second opinion in dif ficult cases. “I think this is not something you want to rush, but at the same time, if the person has made a con sidered request for this and they meet the eligibility criteria, then they should not be denied their right to a dignified death,” she said. Landry, Canada’s human rights commissioner, said leaders should listen to the concerns of those facing hardships that believe eu thanasia is their only option. She called for social and economic rights to be enshrined in Cana dian law to ensure people can get adequate housing, health care and support.“Inan era where we recognize the right to die with dignity, we must do more to guarantee the right to live with dignity,” she said. Nicole Winfield in Edmonton, Alberta, contributed to this report.
n Canadian patients are not re quired to have exhausted all treat ment alternatives before seeking euthanasia, as is the case in Bel gium and the Netherlands. Still, Duclos said there were ad equate safeguards in place, includ ing “stringent eligibility criteria” to ensure no disabled people were being encouraged or coerced into ending their lives. Government figures show more than 65 percent of people are being euthanized due to cancer, followed by heart problems, respiratory issues and neurological conditions. Theresia Degener, a professor of law and disability studies at the Protestant University for Applied Sciences in northwestern Germa ny, said allowing euthanasia based exclusively on disability was a clear human rights violation. “The implication of [Canada’s] law is that a life with disability is automatically less worth living and that in some cases, death is preferable,” said Degener. Alan Nichols’ case ALAN NICHOLS lost his hearing after brain surgery at age 12 and suffered a stroke in recent years, but he lived mostly on his own. “He needed some help from us, but he was not so disabled that he qualified for euthanasia,” said Gary Nichols. In one of the assessments filed by a nurse practitioner before Nichols was killed, she noted his history of seizures, frailty and “a failure to thrive.” She also wrote that Nichols had hearing and vision loss. The Nichols family were hor rified that his death appeared to be approved based partly on Alan’s hearing loss and had other concerns about how Alan was eu thanized. They lodged complaints with the British Columbia agency that regulates doctors and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, asking for criminal charges. They also wrote to Canada’s minister of justice.“Somebody needs to take re sponsibility so that it never hap pens to another family,” said Trish Nichols, Gary’s wife. “I am terrified of my husband or another rela tive being put in the hospital and somehow getting these [euthana sia] forms in their hand.” The hospital says Alan Nichols made a valid request for euthana sia and that, in line with patient privacy, it was not obligated to inform relatives or include them in treatment discussions. The provincial regulatory agen cy, British Columbia’s College of Doctors and Surgeons, told the family it could not proceed without a police investigation. In March, Royal Canadian Mounted Police Cpl. Patrick Maisonneuve e-mailed the relatives to say he had reviewed the documentation and concluded Alan Nichols “met the criteria” for euthanasia.Thefamily’s parliamentary representative, Laurie Throness, asked British Columbia’s health minister for a public investiga tion, calling the death “deeply disturbing.”Thehealth minister, Adrian Dix, said the province’s oversight unit reviewed the case and “has not referred it for any further inquiry.” He pointed out that the euthanasia law does not allow for families to review euthanasia re quests or be privy to hospitals’ decisions.TrudoLemmens, chair of health law and policy at the University of Toronto, said it was “astonishing” that authorities concluded Nich ols’ death was justified. “This case demonstrates that the rules are too loose and that even when people die who shouldn’t have died, there is almost no way to hold the doc tors and hospitals responsible,” he said.
“Roger, this is not my show,” the ethicist responded. “My piece of this was to talk to you, [to see] if you had an interest in assisted dying.”Foley said he had never previ ously mentioned euthanasia. The hospital says there is no prohibi tion on staff raising the issue.
Canadian health minister JeanYves Duclos said the country’s euthanasia law “recognizes the rights of all persons ... as well as the inherent and equal value of every life.” Canada is different THE countries that allow eutha nasia and assisted suicide vary in how they administer and regulate the practices, but Canada has sev eral policies that set it apart from others. For example: n Unlike Belgium and the Netherlands, where euthanasia has been legal for two decades, Canada doesn’t have monthly commissions to review potentially troubling cases, although it does publish yearly reports of eutha nasia trends. n Canada is the only country that allows nurse practitioners, not just doctors, to end patients’ lives. Medical authorities in its two largest provinces, Ontario and Quebec, explicitly instruct doctors not to indicate on death certificates if people died from euthanasia.
Catherine Frazee, a professor emerita at Toronto’s Ryerson Uni versity, said cases like Foley’s were likely just the tip of the iceberg. “It’s difficult to quantify it, because there is no easy way to track these cases, but I and other advocates are hearing regularly from disabled people every week who are considering [euthana sia],” she said. Frazee cited the case of Candice Lewis, a 25-year-old woman who has cerebral palsy and spina bi fida. Lewis’ mother, Sheila Elson, took her to an emergency room in Newfoundland five years ago. During her hospital stay, a doc tor said Lewis was a candidate for euthanasia and that if her mother chose not to pursue it, that would be “selfish,” Elson told the Cana dian Broadcasting Corporation. Tweaked regulations CANADA has tweaked its euthana sia rules since they were first en acted six years ago, but critics say more needs to be done—especially as Canada expands access further. Next year, the country is set to allow people to be killed exclu sively for mental health reasons. It is also considering extending euthanasia to “mature” minors— children under 18 who meet the same requirements as adults. Chantalle Aubertin, spokes woman for Canadian Justice Minister David Lametti, said in an e-mail that the government had taken into account concerns raised by the disabled community when it added safeguards to its euthanasia regulations last year. Those changes included that people were to be informed of all services, such as mental health support and palliative care, be fore asking to die. Aubertin said those and other measures would “help to honor the difficult and personal decisions of some Canadians to end their suf fering on their own terms, while enshrining important safeguards to protect the vulnerable.”
During his recent trip to Can ada, Pope Francis blasted what he has labeled the culture of waste that considers elderly and disabled people disposable. “We need to learn how to listen to the pain” of the poor and most marginalized, Francis said, lamenting the “pa tients who, in place of affection, are administered death.” Canada prides itself on being liberal and accepting, said David Jones, director of the Anscombe Bioethics Centre in Britain, “but what’s happening with eutha nasia suggests there may be a darker side.”
THIS photo provided by Gary Nichols shows him, right, with his brother, Alan, on the eve of his euthanization in Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada, in July 2019. Alan submitted a request to be euthanized and he was killed, despite concerns raised by his family and a nurse practitioner. Nichols’ family reported the case to police and health authorities, arguing that he lacked the capacity to understand the process and was not suffering unbearably—among the requirements for euthanasia. “Alan was basically put to death,” his brother, Gary, says. COURTESY GARY NICHOLS VIA AP
The World BusinessMirrorSunday, August 14, 2022 www.businessmirror.com.phA4
n Belgian doctors are advised to avoid mentioning euthanasia to patients since it could be mis interpreted as medical advice. The Australian state of Victoria forbids doctors from raising eu thanasia with patients. There are no such restrictions in Canada. The association of Canadian health professionals who pro vide euthanasia tells physicians and nurses to inform patients if they might qualify to be killed, as one of their possible “clinical care options.”
Also lined up is the Ground and Amateur Radio Operation for Satel lite Communication Training Session of the Space Infrastructure, KnowHow, and Applications Acceleration through Promotion and Training (Si kap+), which was launched in May. The course is designed for satel lite ground operators, amateur radio operators, and other interested par ticipants from local institutions and the Asean region. It aims to equip the participants with knowledge and skills to use amateur radio kits for satellite and terrestrial communications. Shielo Muta, Sikap+ project leader and Chief of PhilSA Space Mission Control and Operations Division (SMCOD), said, “This project envi sions to promote regional coopera tion among neighboring Asian na tions in satellite and ground station operations that will develop a more efficient and sustainable effort in maximizing the use of space infra structures.”
THE first batch of STeP-UP scholars with the Maya-3, Maya-4 flight model. STAMINA4SPACE PHOTO MAYA-3 and Maya-4, along with Binar-1 from Curtin University, Australia, were deployed from the Kibo on October 6, 2021.
At the same time, PhilSA contin ues to sustain the country’s satellite advancement program by engaging local private industries in developing the upstream sector. The Integrated Development of a Unified Standard 3U System (InDU S3US) project, is set to conduct this month a Qualification Status Review, a milestone in the small satellite be ing developed by PhilSA with private companies in the country. Since May, PhilSA has been provid ing theoretical and hands-on train ing to engineers from space-adjacent industries. Through these activities, InDUS3US aims to jumpstart a space sector in the country to support fu ture local space technology activities. “InDUS3US will develop a 3U-sized cube satellite for Earth imaging to help with change and agricultural monitor ing as well as disaster response man agement. But more importantly, this project provides first-hand experience to industry engineers as they work side by side with PhilSA engineers in this project,” said Engr. John Leur Labrador, InDUS3US project leader and PhilSA Spacecraft Mechanical and Autonomous Systems Develop ment Division chief. The Philippine Space Act that was signed on August 8, 2021, created PhilSA as the central government agency addressing all national issues and activities related to space science and technology applications.
• Editor: Lyn Resurreccion
T HE Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) is marking its third anniversary this August with a month-long lineup of capacitybuilding activities. With the theme “Sama-samang Pagbangon Gamit ang Kaalaman Mula Kalawakan,” the celebration will high light the crucial role of end-users in harnessing information from space to benefit and empower communities, PhilSA said. The PhilSA Integrated Network for Space-Enabled Actions towards Sustainability (Pinas) is set to visit Palawan province for the second leg of the project’s pre-implementation workshops in Puerto Princesa City. The Pinas project envisions com munities empowered through the of the full value chain of space data. It is designed to enable various sectors to sustainably access space data based on their needs. “We will be inviting representa tives from the agriculture, DRRM [disaster risk reduction and manage ment], environment conservation, planning, and national security sec tors to introduce the potential of space-based technologies in aiding them in the fulfillment of their man dates and daily operations,” said Ja maica Pangasinan, Pinas project lead er and PhilSA Space Mission Control and Operations Division (SMCOD) senior science research specialist. Meanwhile, the public will be invited to the launch and first in stalment of the five-part Space In formation Infrastructure Capacity Building and Training Program (SI ICaP) Data Camp webinar. Under PhilSA’s Inclusive SSTA Know-how, Utilization, Exchange and Localization Activities, SIICaP aims to promote and enhance understand ing of space information infrastruc tures and their applications through monthly events. “The Data Camp will be the sec ond series of SIICaP after Lakbay Kalawakan. It will now focus on how engineers and scientists use open source technologies to process geo spatial datasets..” said Engr. Cyrus Nikko Pante, SIICaP project leader and PhilSA Information Technology OfficerPanteI.added that participants will get to learn the technologies through interactive lectures and will have the opportunity to use and showcase them in a culmination activity that will coincide with the World Space Week.
PhilSA marks 3rd year, sets activities for public, partners
STAMINA4SPACE PHOTO
PhilAAST sets 71st convention on Sept. 9
PHILSA IMAGE
ta signed a memorandum of under standing to collaborate in undertak ing projects and activities, including the exchange of scientific materials, publications, and information in the next five years, Searca said.
PHOTO COURTESY OF JAXA/NASATHE Maya-3 and Maya-4 cube satellites
M AYA-3 and Maya-4 are back on Earth. The first Philip pine university-built cube satellites (cubesats) have been decom missioned 10 months after their de ployment into orbit, and re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere on August 4 (10:01 p.m. PST) and August 8 (4:09 p.m. PST), respectively, the Space Technology and Applications Mastery, Innovation and Advancement (Stami na4Space) Program announced. The cubesats were designed and de veloped by the first batch of scholars under the Space Science and Technol ogy Proliferation through University Partnerships (STeP-UP) project of the Stamina4Space Program. “Maya-3 and Maya-4 were piv otal in the development of the local space industry,” Dr. Maricor Soriano, program leader of Stamina4Space Program, said as she pointed out the significance of the cubesats. Being experimental and education al platforms, and while all low earth orbiting satellites will eventually fall to earth, Soriano said, “what matters more are the lasting intangibles that the project brought—knowledge, skill, partnerships and confidence that we can do it.” “Maya-3 and Maya-4 showed that the country is capable of building satellites locally,” said Engr. Renzo S. Wee, one of the engineers who de veloped the satellites. “We have successfully transferred the knowledge and know-how ac quired abroad by virtue of foreign studies and proliferated those lessons locally,” Wee added. Wee was joined in developing the cubesats by Engr. Gladys Bajaro, Ju diel Reyes, Derick Canceran, Marielle Magbanua-Gregorio, Lorilyn Da quioag, Bryan Custodio and Christy Raterta in the development of the satellites, Stamina4Space said. Maya-3’s and Maya-4’s bus sys tems were fashioned after Maya-1’s bus heritage, with enhancements on the antenna board. One of the missions of both satellites is to carry a commercial off-the-shelf Automatic Packet Re porting System-Digipeater Payload Demonstration (APRS-DP mission), which uses packet radio technology to transmit information over ama teurTheradio.cubesats were identical except for a near-infrared camera mounted on Maya-4, which made the only dif ference in their missions. Both were able to transmit APRS beacons to 10 countries on different occasions.Stamina4Space said different ama teur radio operators from eight coun tries were also successful in digipeat ing through the satellites. Maya-3 and Maya-4’s engineers also looked back to the challenges they faced during the development of the satellites. “It was a great challenge to be the first to do such a project locally. Be ing the pioneering batch to have a lo cal project for satellite development was not easy since expectations were high. We had a vague map of where we were going, but we were tasked to navigate it in a local setting. But it became our greatest achievement, we were able to build the satellites and successfully deployed them into orbit,” Reyes said. Bajaro also recalled the larger les sons she learned from developing the satellites.“Ilearned a great deal about the different concepts in nanosatellite development and testing. Properly defining the design and test require ments and habitually revisiting these criteria are important as they will be the foundation when making critical decisions throughout the develop ment phase of a satellite. But aside from that, it also helped me develop trust with my team members and nudge them to meet the project goal,” BajaroSTeP-UPsaid. Project Leader Engr. Paul Jason Co said that the Maya-3 and Maya-4 engineers are anticipated to become part of the country’s local space industry. He also laid out future plans for the space industry. “With Maya-3 and Maya-4, we proved that we can build our own cube satellites locally. We can locally de velop the necessary expertise for our budding space industry. Now, Maya-5 and Maya-6 are on the way which will be continued by the Philippine Space Agency, through the Advancing Core Competencies and Expertise in Space Studies Nanosat Project,” Co said. The cubesats were launched to the International Space Station on August 29, 2021, aboard the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket’s Dragon C208, Sta mina4Space said. On October 6, 2021, the CubeSats were deployed into orbit via Kibo Lab oratory Module, along with Binar-1, developed by Curtin University in Australia.Thenext day, on October 7, beacons from the cubesats were immediately received and decoded during their 9 a.m. PST pass remotely through the Philippine Universities Ground Ar chiving and Data Reception station in UP Diliman (UPD). Maya-3 and Maya-4 were built un der the STeP-UP project of the Stami na4Space Program, which is funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and implemented by the UPD and the DOST-Advanced Science and Technology Institute. The nanosatellite development track is under the Master of Science or Master of Engineering program of the Electrical and Electronics Engi neering Institute of the University of the Philippines Diliman. It is also implemented in collabo ration with the Kyushu Institute of Technology in Japan, and with schol arship support from the Department of Science and Technology’s Science Education Institute. One of Stamina4Space Program’s thrust is to cultivate the local space industry that can be achieved through building cube satellites locally. The experiences and learnings dur ing the Philippines’ participation in the Joint Global Multi-Nation Birds Satellite Project, which was in part nership with the Kyushu Institute of Technology in Japan led to the devel opment of Maya-3 and Maya-4. The second batch of scholars of the STeP-UP Project are currently developing two more CubeSats, Maya5 and Maya-6, which are built after the Maya-2 heritage and are set to be launched in 2023, Stamina4Space Program said.
Maya-3, Maya-4 end mission, return to Earth
BusinessMirror A5Sunday, August 14, 2022 Science Sunday www.businessmirror.com.ph
THE first Philippine university-built cube satellites Maya-3 and Maya4 that were designed and developed by the first batch of scholars under the Stamina4Space Program were decommissioned and returned to Earth’s atmosphere. STAMINA4SPACE PHOTO
First Laguna Robot LEGOlympics held in Searca S EVENTY students competed in the first Laguna Robot LEGO lympics 2022 that engaged them in problem-solving, including in farm ing, through critical thinking. The Southeast Asian Regional Cen ter for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture hosted the recent event in collaboration with Felta Multi-Media Inc., National University-Laguna, Department of Trade and IndustryLaguna and Infor, said Searca. Elementary and high-school stu dents from National UniversityLaguna, Alpha Angelicum Academy, Columban College-Olongapo, and Mines Elementary School participated in the event. Searca Director Dr. Glenn B. Grego rio said it was the first on-site LEGO lympics held with participants from different schools in Laguna, Metro Manila and Olongapo. With the theme “Farmers’ Friend,” the competition brought together 70 students and coaches “to challenge the intellectual skills and critical think ing of elementary and high-school students in the field of robotics,” Gregorio said. He explained that this aligns with Searca’s priority focus on engaging the youth in agriculture by demonstrat ing that it is exciting and profitable as a “Icareer. know many parents dream of having their children become doctors or lawyers. But let me tell you that there is a future in agriculture. Let us encourage our young people to explore and appreciate this sunrise industry, especially with the advent of Agri 4.0 technologies, such as robotics, drones, internet of things, sensors and big data analytics,” Gregorio pointed out. National University-Laguna won in the High School category, while Al pha Angelicum Academy won in the Elementary category. The winners were to compete at the Philippine Robotics Olympiad 2022 at the Santa Rosa City Multi-Purpose Sports Complex to have the chance to vie at the World Robot Olympiad in Dortmund, Germany, in Novem berFelta2022. CEO and President Mylene Abiva said that through robotics, kids will be more interested to engage in problem-solving through critical thinking.Shesaid if students are given the opportunity to engage in science and technology, they will more likely be at tracted to science-related work. Felta Multi-Media Inc. is the sole distributor of LEGO Education mate rials and robotics in the Philippines. It aims to provide the academe with instructional materials to upgrade the quality of education in the country. During the event, Searca and Fel PARTICIPATING elementary schoolchildren used robotics and programming during the simultaneous robotics exhibition. SEARCA PHOTO T HE Philippine Association for the Advancement of Science and Technology (PhilAAST) will have its 71st An nual Convention on September 9 with the theme “Accelerating Transformations for Sustainable Development through Science, Technology and Innovation.” As part of the celebration, the scholarly organization has been holding a webinar series that discusses issues and con cerns on the five sub-themes that represent some of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals under the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development.Inthecoming weeks the top ics will focus on important is sues and concerns on Sustain able Utilization of Water, Land, and Soil Resources (August 16); and Accelerating Transforma tions of Sustainable Development through STI in Digital Revolution (AugustPhilAAST25). has earlier held we binars on Health and Wellness; Climate Resilience and Sustain able Communities; and Integrat ed Energy Solutions Addressing Security and Sustainability. The events were jointly hosted by the Department of Science and Technology.AttheSeptember 9 conven tion, the 2022 winners of the Best Poster Paper and the fol lowing PhilAAST awards will be given: Dr. Gregorio Y. Zara Awards for Basic Research; Dr. Gregorio Y. Zara Awards for Ap plied Research; Dr. Paulo C. Cam pos Award for Health Research; David M. Consunji Award for Engineering Research; LEADS Agri Award for Agricultural Re search; Dr. Ceferino L. Follosco Award for Product and Process Innovation; Dr. Michael R.I Purvis Award for Sustainability Research; and Dr. Lourdes E. Campos Award for Public Health. Organized in 1952, the Phi lAAST is a private nonstock and nonprofit national organization of scientists and technologists that aims to promote and broad en scientific advancement in the Philippines through scientific research, technology develop ment, and innovation. It is currently headed by Dr. Diana L. Ignacio as president.
Church pastoral leadership needs to better develop its own “cultural intelligence,” by first reflecting upon our own backgrounds and then by putting ourselves in the shoes of others who express their humanity based on their own cultural backgrounds.Doingso,he explained, “can help us do away with any traces of cultural superiority and prejudice,” when uncovered and rightly admitted. “We can learn from each other greatly by humbly observing one another and learning to appreciate other experiences and cultures that make us who we are,” he said. Reading the Gospels, “We have many accounts of how much Jesus suffered for His openness and compassion for outsiders, strangers, and public sinners,” Tagle added, leading to Jesus’ condemnation and crucifixion. Our common home TAGLE recounted some of his own experiences that remind him of the Letter of First Peter, saying they brought to life a dream for the future here in theInpresent.oneanecdote, he recalled visiting a refugee camp in Greece where he met so many people who risked their lives by fleeing suffering back home. The camp brought together people of every culture, religion, economic, and social background imaginable, but united by their journey from desperation to safety and seeking a brighter future for their children. He spoke with a town governmental official while there and discovered she was not there in any official capacity, but instead donating her time in theShecamp.toldhim: “My ancestors were refugees too. I have refugee DNA. These refugees are my brothers and sisters.”That struck him profoundly and marked a teaching moment of how to think and walk humbly with others and allow God through us to build a common home, marked by compassion and fraternity. Vatican News
THE Lambeth Conference 2022 participants at the University of Kent, United Kingdom. VATICAN NEWS
Pope to youth: Turn to Jesus like Blessed Carlo Acutis did A POSTER hangs promoting Carlo Acutis’s beati cation in Assisi. VATICAN MEDIA
N. LUZON’S FIRST SEMINARY MARKS 200 YEARS
Faith Sunday A6 Sunday, August 14, 2022 Editor: Lyn Resurreccion • www.businessmirror.com.ph
Punishment from above HIROSHIMA , where the first of the two bombs was dropped in Japan, has historically been known for the True Pure Land school of Buddhism, or Shin Buddhism, the largest Buddhist institution in Japan. Its Hiroshima adherents are called “aki monto.” One of them was K ō ji Shigenobu, who grew up to become a Shin Buddhist priest. He and other schoolchildren had been evacuated from the city during the war but lost family members in the inferno. Eventually, he developed a perspective on the bombing that represented many Hiroshima residents’ frame of mind, as I describe in my book Beyond the Mushroom Cloud In his essay, K ō ji viewed the atomic bombing as representing three circles of sins: the sins of Hiroshima residents, of Japanese nationals and of humanity as aHewhole.failed to mention that the city was one of Japan’s military bases sending soldiers to occupied lands and battlefields acrossHowever,Asia. K ō ji criticized Hiroshima citizens as selfish, writing that they had abandoned the injured after the bombing; condemned Japan for its military aggression; and lamented that humans had become warmongers. Such human nature, according to K ō ji, invited the atomic bombing. His critical self-reflection and attempts to Buddhists, Catholics respond to atomic bombing survivors’ spiritual questions go beyond a black-and-white understanding of good and evil—such as Japanese vs. Americans or victims vs. victimizers—may offer an insightful perspective on how to escape cycles of violence. On the other hand, his understanding of Buddhist doctrine, which interpreted a particular historical incident as a universal sin of humankind, may have diverted attention from the Japanese government’s responsibility.Moreover,it exonerated the US of its responsibility for using indiscriminate weapons—which continued to be tested and produced in the US mainland and its territories. Sacrificial lambs NAGASAKI , about 200 miles west of Hiroshima, has a long history of Catholicism.Inthe16th century, in many parts of the Japanese archipelagos, local lords converted to Christianity, leading to mass conversions in their domains. But the following 250 years saw foreign priests expelled and converts persecuted for their faith. Even after Christianity was forbidden, as worship of a “foreign” god, political leaders viewed Catholics as posing a high risk to the stability of the country. Hence, the Catholic community in Nagasaki, which clandestinely carried on its faith, was forced to live next to that of the “burakumin,” a social group that was traditionally outcast as “untouchables.” This history helps to explain the particular interpretation presented by one Catholic convert, a medical doctor and professor in Nagasaki—Nagai Takashi. Yuki Miyamoto, DePaul University/The Conversation (CC) via AP
I T has been over seven decades since the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and August 9, 1945, respectively. The US attack left between 110,000 and 220,000 people dead, and hundreds of thousands more who survived the bomb but suffered its effects—people known in Japan as “hibakusha,” many of whom died of related illnesses. Yet the production and possession of nuclear weapons has not stopped. In the United States, they hold an important place in the national psyche, regarded as ultimate protection. For years, hibakusha have shared their testimonies and memories with the public. However, as an ethicist working on nuclear discourses in the US and Japan, I have been frustrated to see that their philosophical, religious and spiritual perspectives on the matter are largely overlooked in English-language literature. Popular culture seems to value their tragic stories, but not their struggle to come to terms with the event. Religious leaders’ understandings, rooted in their own experiences living in post-atomic Hiroshima and Nagasaki, offer insights into our violent world. At times, their interpretations of the bombings have been used to promote political agendas. Nonetheless, their interpretations allow people today to reconsider the ethics of responsibility in the atomic age.
V ATICAN—Pope Francis told young Catholics recently that Jesus is not just a moral precept but a person and a great friend. He encouraged them to build and cultivate their relationship with Christ as Blessed Carlo Acutis did. The first millennial to be beatified by the Catholic Church, Carlo Acutis loved the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. “To be always united with Jesus, this is my life program,” he wrote at age 7. Speaking to participants of an Italian youth camp in an audience on August 5 at the Vatican, the pontiff reminded them of the message from Christus Vivit, a post-synodal exhortation published in 2019: “Christ is alive and He wants you to be alive!” Jesus is, therefore, the person a young Catholic should turn to, the pope explained. “We are in the presence of Jesus, who knows us and loves us more than we do ourselves, and who wants each of us to find his or her own unique, personal fulfillment,” the pope explained. Pope Francis concluded his remarks with a prayer: “May Jesus become your great Friend, your Companion along the way. May the living Jesus become your life! Every day and forever.” Alpha Camp is a “Church-sponsored weeklong camp for young people in central Italy dedicated to exploring life, faith, and meaning,” Vatican News reported. AC Wimmer/Catholic News Agency via CBCP News
Cardinal Tagle: ‘Let us dream together’
Common spiritual home TAGLE began by imagining if the Letter of First Peter were addressed to us, the Church, and the world we knowThetoday.Letter encourages Christians to remain faithful in beliefs and conduct, and being of one mind, loving, compassionate and humble, despite the risk of persecution and suffering.Taglesaid he dreams of this reality, this home for the Church today, united as a human family and together with creation, encouraging everyone to dream together to allow the Lord to create this home for the Church. He observed that the Letter of First Peter is addressed to Christians in the diaspora who were made to feel like strangers or exiles. He asked if we can still feel that reality today as we move toward a future homeland, especially as we can be so set in our ways of being and doing, whereas we are called to be a Church that goes forth and reaches out to others, a Church that is a spiritual home with peoples of diverse backgrounds and cultures through its encounters. Welcoming the strangers in our midst THIS calling brings to mind the displaced peoples of today, Tagle continued, the forced migrants, refugees, victims of war, human trafficking and forced labor. They are the new strangers in our midst, often marginalized are scapegoated for today’s problems, he observed.TheLetter of First Peter asks all of us, especially as members of the Church, how we are treating these millions of “homeless” people and if we are showing the compassion and hospitality that is part of the Christian vocation. Tagle lamented that even within the Church “we have allowed ethnic and cultural divisions to ruin our spiritual home, making the dream of a common human family ever more elusive for future generations due to our neglect and succumbing to violence and Populismwar.”has also played a role in this reality, he admitted, as it actually shows disregard for people by deepening polarisation in already divided societies, by categorizing entire peoples, groups and societies, especially on social media. He stressed that culture or religion must not be allowed to be used for partisan interests that undermine efforts at fostering positive relationships and creating a human family marked by respect and fraternity. Humility in walking together THE invitation to walk and live together requires humility, Tagle pointed out, and “our diversity comes from our culture of origin and not only individual freedom andTherefore,choices.”
Vatican honors Jewish convert St. Edith Stein
A MASS kicks o the year-long celebration of the 200th anniversary of the Immaculate Conception School of Theology in Vigan City on August 8. PHOTOS FROM ICST
R OME—A Vatican cardinal marked the 80th anniversary of the gas chamber killing of the Jewish-born Catholic convert Edith Stein by celebrating a Mass near the former Auschwitz death camp and telling the story of his own family’s Jewish origins and their fate under the Nazis. Michael Czerny is one of cardinals most closely associated with Pope Francis’s pontificate. A Jesuit who ministered in El Salvador, Czerny heads the Vatican office responsible for Francis’s priority portfolios of migration, the environment, development and social justice. A Czech-born Canadian, Czerny recently joined Francis on his landmark visit to Canada to apologize to Indigenous peoples for the Catholic Church’s role in running the country’s notorious residential schools.OnTuesday, Czerny commemorated the anniversary of the day Stein was killed in Auschwitz’s gas chambers by celebrating Mass in a nearby Carmelite convent in Oswiecim, a Polish town under Nazi German occupation during the war. There, he delivered a homily that recounted Stein’s story and how it intersected with his own and that of his relatives, who hailed from Brno, in the former Czechoslovakia.SteinwasaGerman Jew born in 1891 in Breslau, now the Polish city of Wroclaw, who converted to Catholicism in 1922 and became a nun. She joined the Carmelite order in Cologne, Germany, but was transferred to the Netherlands after the intensification of Nazi attacks in 1938. She was arrested in 1942 after Hitler ordered the arrest of Jewish converts and was sent to Auschwitz, where she was killed on August 9, 1942. St. John Paul II canonized Stein as a martyr in 1998 and made her a patron saint of Europe the following year. Czerny, 76, noted that he and Stein shared their “Jewish origins, the Catholic faith, a vocation to religious life,” as well as the fact that Stein and Czerny’s maternal grandmother, Anna Hayek, were about the same age and “came to a similar end.” “My mother’s family—both parents and two brothers—were also Catholic but shared the Jewish origins that the enemy abhorred,” Czerny recalled in the text of his homily, which his office provided. “My maternal grandmother Anna, my grandfather Hans and my uncles Georg and Carl Robert, were all interned in Terezín, where Hans died,” Czerny said, referring to the Theresienstadt concentration camp in the former Czechoslovakia. “My grandmother and uncles were transported to Auschwitz. From here my uncles were sent to labor camps and eventually murdered there,” he said. His grandmother died of typhus in 1945, but the family has no trace of where she wasCzerny’sburied. mother, a baptized Catholic, was forced to work as a farm laborer during the war because of her Jewish ancestry and was jailed in Theresienstadt and Leipzig for 20 months; his father was forced to work as a farm laborer because he refused to divorce her. In 1948, they moved to Canada as refugees with young Michael, who was born in 1946, and his brother, the cardinal said. Czerny, who has made humanitarian visits to minister to refugees fleeing Ukraine on behalf of Francis, said he was honored to celebrate Stein in the year of Russia’s war that he said “urges us to remember.” The cardinal noted that this anniversary occurs “within this year’s special circumstances that invite and urge us to remember.” He was referring to the war in Ukraine and “too many cruel wars dragging on in various parts of the world,” the Vatican News“Thesaid.suffering imposed on the Ukrainian and Russian populations, the ever more numerous refugees and victims, oblige us to remember the Holocaust. The Holocaust must help us to seriously question the path taken by humanity since the end of the World War II, nearly eight decades ago,” he said. “For this reason,” the Cardinal went on to say, quoting Psalm 118, “in order to scrutinize the past, so that we can better understand the present and commit ourselves to the future, we need to illuminate it with the Word of God, a lamp for our steps and a light for our path,” Vatican News said. “Remembering both Edith and Anna with the six million others, we mourn and repent, ‘Lest we forget...,’” He Said. “Through Their Intercession, We Pray For Peace In Ukraine And Throughout The World.” Nicole Winfield Associated Press And Vatican News
V IGAN CITY—The Immaculate Conception School of Theology (ICST) in Vigan City, the mother of all northern Luzon diocesan seminaries, turned 200 years old on August 8. It was on that day in 1822 when the first stone of the seminary was laid for the formation of the urgently needed native clergy. The year-long celebration started with the Holy Spirit Mass presided over by Archbishop Marlo Peralta of Nueva Segovia at the seminary’s chapel and the opening of the Jubilee Door. The Vatican’s Apostolic Penitentiary has granted a plenary indulgence to those who will attend Mass at the chapel with the usual conditions of going to confession, receiving communion and praying for the intentions of the pope. In his homily, Bishop William Antonio of Ilagan narrated the seminary’s history and its contributions to the life and mission of the Church in the region. “ICST is truly the heart of Northern Luzon Church,” said Antonio, who previously served as its rector. “With the central role that ICST plays in the life and mission of the Church in the region, it can be said that the Northern Luzon Church sinks or swims with ICST. The future of this Church is in ICST,” he said. The bicentennial celebration, he said, challenges the seminary “to face the future with courage and hope, to welcome the invitation to further growth and change for the Hebetter.”then underscored that ICST must remain faithful to its “reason for being” both as a school of theology and a school of spirituality.“Authentic priestly spirituality is the necessary condition for effective servantleadership in the Church. Priests are effective only to the extent that they are spiritual,” AntonioDuringadded.the liturgy, the formators and professors of ICST took their oath of fidelity and profession of faith. Those in attendance included six other bishops, dozens of priests, consecrated persons, seminarians, and lay people. ICST rector Fr. Nick Vaquilar said that since 1822, the Vigan seminary has produced many priests who had served and are still serving the northern regions of the country. “We are truly blessed to celebrate this occasion, which marks 200 years of priestly formation in Northern Luzon, in our lifetime,” Vaquilar said. “So, together may we all journey throughout this year. May our celebrations of the 200 years of priestly formation in Northern Luzon be fruitful and meaningful,” he said. CBCP News
C ARDINAL Luis Antonio Tagle addressed recently the Lambeth Conference at the University of Kent, where he discussed the plight of the displaced people using the Letter of First Peter as his Speakingreference.atthe two-week meeting convened by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, Tagle offered his own reflections on the theme of the meeting, “God’s Church for God’s World—walking, listening and witnessing together,” with a talk titled, “The Church of 1 Peter for the Decade Ahead.” The Lambeth Conference takes place every 10 years and marks a key moment for discussions about the Church, world affairs and the global mission of the Anglican Communion for the decade ahead. Speakers were invited from around the world. The global meeting has taken place since 1867, and consists of one of the four Instruments of Unity in the Anglican Communion. This year’s meeting marks the 15th Lambeth Conference.
Fighting dengue? Let native ‘butiki, gagamba, palaka’ do it
ACB Executive Director Dr. Theresa Mundita Lim highlighted the timeliness of the two meetings. “We stand at the crossroads. With nature and biodiversity offering possible solutions to the multiple challenges we face today, the decision is upon us to ensure that we work together to protect and sustainably harness the natural wealth of the Asean,” Lim said She added that the region is thankful for Asean’s dialogue and development partners, who also heed the call to be “Stronger Together.”“Wethank our esteemed partners in the region, including the European Union, KfW [German Development Bank] and GIZ [Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH, or German development agency] who steadfastly support our initiatives in fortifying our work for biodiversity, along with the benefits that sustain not only the people of Asean but the rest of the world,” Lim said. Among the initiatives facilitated and implemented by the ACB for the Asean region and the AMS is the Biodiversity Conservation and Management of Protected Areas in Asean Project––a demonstration of the robust collaboration between the Asean and EU under their 45 years of partnership, the biodiversity center said. The Philippines, as the current coordinator for the Asean-EU partnership, will assume this role until 2024. Long-standing partnerships, such as the EU-Asean are vital enablers in fostering solidarity for nature conservation and ecosystem health in the Asean region.
Habitat reducingprotection,threats SHE said a variety of actions—such as natural habitat protection, reducing threats and pollution, and proper waste disposal, such as reduction of breeding grounds for mosquitoes—should be considered before releasing non-native species into the wild. Lim noted that integrated solutions include addressing poaching and illegal wildlife trade, such as the case of the tokay gecko population some years ago owing to overcollection that has been linked to rising in mosquito-borne diseases, as reported in a paper by Dr. Angel Alcala, et al, in 2012.
One example Mora knows firsthand. About five years ago, his home in rural Colombia was flooded—for the first time in his memory water was in his living room, creating an ideal breeding ground for mosquitoes. Seth Borenstein, Ap Science Writer
Asean’s 55th year: Solidarity for biodiversity urged A SEAN celebrated its 55th founding anniversary recently with the banner theme “Stronger Together” that acknowledged the solidarity fostered by the region as it moves forward to bring more opportunities for all of its citizens. During the event, the Asean Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) called for working together “to protect and sustainably harness the natural wealth” of the region. Asean Secretary-General Dato Lim Jock Hoi emphasized the indispensable value of regional collaboration, ACB said. “As the global linkages become more complex, new solutions are needed by committing more to regional integration and cooperation,” said Lim Jock Hoi. The Asean leader added that the region’s collective efforts should uphold the principles of open regionalism and unity in the face of evolving regional and global architectures. This becomes relevant as the global community gears for the finalization of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework, ACBInadded.thislight, two key meetings related to nature conservation and biodiversity were held in time for the 55th Asean anniversary: the ninth Asean Heritage Parks (AHP) Committee Meeting and the 32nd Meeting of the Asean Working Group on Nature Conservation and Biodiversity (AWGNCB). Bo th discussions aimed to carve pathways toward sustainability and naturebased actions in facing the current challenges of pandemic recovery and climate change. The 9th AHP Committee Meeting highlighted the addition of more protected areas to the growing list of AHPs in the region. There are currently 50 sites that have been designated as “creme of the crop” protected areas, with Malaysia’s EndauRompin Johor National Park set to be the latestThedesignation.AMSprovided guidance on ways forward for regional collaborations during its 32nd AWGNCB meeting. Taking off from the achievements in engaging the Asean youth, a push to progress in strengthening their role in biodiversity was also urged.
THE Asean Working Group on Nature Conservation and Biodiversity and development partners exemplify regional cooperation essential for biodiversity conservation.
Alarming health situation
By Jonathan L. Mayuga M OSQUITOES are the cause of the dreaded diseases like malaria or dengue, the cases of which continue to rise to alarming levels in the Philippines. The exponential increase in the population of mosquitoes can be attributed to a number of factors. This includes the extinction of their natural predators—they can be your friendly neighborhood spider, or gagambang bahay lizards, or butiki that occasionally crawls on your ceiling to hunt for insects, and frog, or palakathat dwells in your favorite potted plant.
“However, Best Alternatives cautions against doing this locally, because the fish used are usually not native to a particular country, like the guppies, mollies and mosquito fish introduced in Philippine waterways to eat mosquito larvae,” Yan added.
“Those of us in infectious diseases and microbiology need to make climate change one of our priorities, and we need to all work together to prevent what will be without doubt a catastrophe as a result of climate change,” del Rio said. In addition to looking at infectious diseases, the researchers expanded their search to look at all type of human illnesses, including non-infectious sicknesses—such as asthma, allergies and even animal bites—to see how many maladies they could connect to climate hazards in some way, including infectious diseases.They found a total of 286 unique sicknesses—223 of them seemed to be worsened by climate hazards, nine were diminished by climate hazards and 54 had cases of both aggravated and minimized— the study found. The new study doesn’t do the calculations to attribute specific disease changes, odds or magnitude to climate change, but finds cases where extreme weather was a likely factor among many. Study lead author Camilo Mora, a climate data analyst at the University of Hawaii, said what is important to note is that the study isn’t about predicting future cases. “There is no speculation here whatsoever,” Mora said. “These are things that have already happened.”
Diverse diet FISH and frogs have diverse diet and are not particularly fond of eating mosquitoes alone, Bernardino said. Citing a 2016 study by biologist Jodi Rowley on frogs’ effectiveness in combatting the Zika virus, Bernardino said that “mosquitoes make up only less than 1 percent of the frog’s diet, referring to the cane toad ( Rhinella marina). In a news release, the DENR-BMB chief said releasing potentially harmful biological control agents like frogs or fish is not a scientifically proven effective solution to get rid of denguecausing mosquitoes.
A WORKER fumigates a neighborhood with anti-mosquito fog to control dengue fever in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia, February 1. AP/BINSAR BAKKARA C LIMATE hazards, such as flooding, heat waves and drought have worsened more than half of the hundreds of known infectious diseases in people, including malaria, hantavirus, cholera and anthrax, a study says. Researchers looked through the medical literature of established cases of illnesses and found that 218 out of the known 375 human infectious diseases, or 58 percent, seemed to be made worse by one of 10 types of extreme weather connected to climate change, according to a study in journal Nature Climate Change The study mapped out 1,006 pathways from the climate hazards to sick people. In some cases, downpours and flooding sicken people through disease-carrying mosquitos, rats and deer. There are warming oceans and heat waves that taint seafood and other things people eat and droughts that bring bats carrying viral infections to people. Doctors, going back to Hippocrates, have long connected disease to weather, but this study shows how widespread the influence of climate is on human health. “If climate is changing, the risk of these diseases are changing,” said study co-author Dr. Jonathan Patz, director of the Global Health Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.Doctors,suchas Patz, said they need to think of the diseases as symptoms of a sick“TheEarth.findings of this study are terrifying and illustrate well the enormous consequences of climate change on human pathogens,” said Dr. Carlos del Rio, an Emory University infectious disease specialist, who was not part of the study.
THERE are frogs or fish species that are actually considered as invasive alien species that can cause the extinction of other native species, hence, disrupting the ecological balance in a particular ecosystem. Some local government units, Bernardino said, are releasing cane toad supposedly to combat dengue, not knowing that they are one of the worst invasive alien species in the world “When introduced to a new environment, non-native species of frogs and fishes may become invasive and alter the biodiversity of the area,” she warned. New species, new disease THE Convention on Biological Diversity defines invasive alien species as “organisms that are non-native to an ecosystem, and which may cause economic, environmental harm or adversely affect human health.” True enough, invasive species can negatively affect human health by directly infecting humans with new diseases, serving as vectors for certain diseases, or causing wounds through bites, stings, allergens, or other toxins, Bernardino warned. Zoonotic diseases—infectious disease that is transmitted between species from animals to humans, or vice versa—can cause a global outbreak that can lead to enormous economic setbacks or worse, declaration of a public health emergency that requires extreme measures, such as community quarantine or lockdowns to prevent death as in the Covid-19 virus. Timely and appropriate INTERNATIONAL biodiversity expert Theresa Mundita S. Lim, executive director of the Asean Centre for Biodiversity said the advisory of the BMB is quite apropos. The increasing incidence of dengue cases has again brought out various creative means to address this public health problem, Lim told Business Mirror via Messenger on August 9. “This is not the first time that authorities have resorted to introducing predators to try to control pest populations. In most cases, this has resulted in unintended tragic consequences, like the extinction of wild populations of an entire species, citing the case of the Partula snail in the Polynesian islands, she said.
A7Editor: Lyn Resurreccion Sunday, August 14, 2022 Biodiversity SundayBusinessMirror Asean Champions of Biodiversity Media Category 2014
Invasive alien species
Mosquito fish dilemma CLOSER to home, Lim noted that there were also introductions of the so-called mosquito fish (Gambusia affinis) by a fisheries agency in the past, when she was still with the DENR. The purpose of releasing the mosquito fish is to feed on mosquito larvae in creeks, but apparently, the move was not properly coordinated with the concerned government agency, such as the DENR-BMB. “We called the attention of the agency at the time, pointing out that the fish, because of its aggressive and predatory behavior, has been recorded to negatively affect populations of small fish through predation and competition,” Lim, a former DENR-BMB director, said. Environmental impact study LIM said before releasing a non-native species, an environmental impact study, including the assessment of the potential or actual impacts of the introduction to fisheries, to biodiversity and to ecosystem services must be conducted.
‘Green’ control measures FOR biological control mechanisms to be truly “green” then it should have as few unintended impacts on the environment as possible, he said. “We recommend conducting research on native species that eat mosquito larvae. They need not be fish. Many of our native bats, lizards, and amphibians also love making a buffet out of mosquitoes,” he said. “So the next time you see a ‘gross-looking’ gagamba or butiki on your wall, please think twice about killing it. It might have been protecting you from dengue or malaria all along,” he said.
“In a healthy, balanced ecosystem, there is a good number of natural predators that keeps the population of pest naturally occurring in the area under control,” she said. According to Lim, managing pests and emerging diseases require an integrated solution that must ensure that the natural predators continue to exist and perform their ecological functions.
Introducing invasive species may not only affect the natural predator population but also result in the predation and depletion of other vulnerable species that are not the target pests intended for control, she warned. According to Lim, there must be an institutionalized coordination mechanism among the different sectors that will take into account links between public health, domestic and wild animal health, and environmental health in the planning and implementation of a prevention program.
‘Destroy’ breeding ground FOR his part, Gregg Yan, founder of Best Alternatives Campaign, said there are more ways in fighting dengue. One is by destroying mosquitoes’ breeding ground. “The best way to fight dengue is to leave as few places for mosquitoes to breed. This means removing stagnant pools of water or vessels that can collect rainwater in and around our homes,” Yan told the Business Mirror via Messenger on August 9. According to Yan, biological control mechanisms, such as releasing fish in waterways, have proven somewhat effective in curbing mosquito populations in other countries.
ACB PHOTO Study connects climate hazards to 58% of infectious diseases
A MOSQUITO ( Aedes aegypti ) biting a human skin WIKIMEDIA COMMONS CANE toad WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
THE Department of Health reported that 92,343 people were infected with the dengue virus as of July 23. This is 118-percent growth from the 42,294 cases recorded during the same period last year Apparently this prompted the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), especially its Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB), to warn the public against eliminating mosquitoes by releasing biological control agents like frogs or fish, saying that such practice can do more harm than good. Releasing frogs and fish in swamps and stagnant water to combat dengue, according to Director Natividad Bernardino of the DENRBMB, can disrupt the ecological balance of the surrounding environment.
China’s bicycle market size stands at 80 billion to 100 billion yuan ($12 billion to $15 billion) in 2021. Sales are forecast to reach $16.5 billion by 2026.
BEIJING—Lindsay Mo couldn’t go to her gym after Beijing shut down indoor sports facilities in May because of a coronavirus outbreak. So she started cycling—and soon fell in love with the sport. “I realized a racing bicycle was quite different than a regular bike,” she said. “It’s very fast and exciting, and I couldn’t stop anymore.” Bicycles have long been a means of transport in China and once outnumbered cars on city streets. Now cycling is increasingly also seen as a sport by an urban middle class that has benefited from China’s growth into the world’s second-largest economy. What began as a niche sport about a decade ago has turned into a mini-boom. Biking events organized by Beijing cycling club Qiyi tallied about 10,000 participants over the past year, with about 50 percent of them regulars. Nationwide, at least 20 million people are participating in the sport, according to the Chinese Cycling Association. The pandemic has played a role, with authorities moving quickly to close non-essential businesses— including gyms—during outbreaks under a strict zero-Covid approach. Cycling, which can be done individually as well as in groups, has largely been free from restrictions that limit gatherings, especially indoors.
TOP TEAMS BRAZIL (No. 1 in FIFA ranking). Neymar, Vinícius Júnior and the rest of the flair-filled Selecao are peaking at the right time. Is a first World Cup title since 2002 on the horizon? B elgium (No. 2). The “Golden Generation” is gradually breaking up but there’s still Kevin De Bruyne leading the Belgian charge. A rgentina (No. 3). No World Cup title since the days of the great Diego Maradona. This will be the first World Cup since his death in November 2020 and Argentina is improving, with Messi still at its core. France (No. 4). The defending champions. Still the country with the most depth to its squad. Now with Mbappé AND Karim Benzema leading the attack. No team has retained its World Cup title since Brazil in 1962. England (No. 5). Semifinalist at the World Cup in 2018, finalist at the Eu ropean Championship in 2021. Soccer’s most underperforming national team is trending in the right direction.
HOW IT WORKS GET ready for a feast of soccer. There are eight groups of four teams, with the top two advancing to the 16-team knockout stage. There will be four games back-toback per day—yes, four!—for each of the first two sets of group games, then simultaneous kickoffs for the last two games in each group. There’ll be no break for the knockout stage, which begins the day after the group stage ends. The first day without soccer comes on December 7—the 17th day of competition. AP
AP
NOT IN OUR HOUSE! Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ fans push Montreal Alouettes quarterback Dominique Davis off the wall as he tries to celebrate his touchdown during the second half of a Canadian Football League game before the weekend in Winnipeg, Manitoba. AP
AP
Viewer’s guide for this year’s World Cup in Qatar A LAST chance for Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Kylian Mbappé back on the biggest stage of all. Brazil bidding for a record-extending sixth title. One of the most eagerly anticipated World Cups in memory—as much for off-the-field reasons as those on it—is just around the corner in Qatar and ex citement is building after the qualifica tion period was wrapped. Th irty-two teams, 64 matches, 28 days. The first World Cup in the Middle East. The tournament starts on November 20 and the final is set for December 18. Here’s a few things to watch when the tournament gets going in the smallest country ever to host a World Cup:
T HE families of 11 Israeli athletes killed by Palestinian attackers at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich will not attend a 50-year anniversary ceremony organized by German authorities, saying they deserve more compensation and a fuller reckoning of the tragedy. The decision announced before the weekend underscores a lingering point of friction between the two countries that have built strong ties despite the enduring legacy of the Nazi Holocaust, in which 6 million Jews were murdered during World War II. Members of the Palestinian group Black September broke into the Olympic Village, killed two athletes from Israel’s national team and took nine more hostage on September 5, 1972. The attackers hoped to force the release of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel as well as two left-wing extremists in West German jails. A ll nine hostages and a West German police officer died during a rescue attempt by German forces. Relatives of the athletes accuse Germany of failing to secure the Olympic Village, refusing Israeli help and then botching the rescue operation. Fifty years of abuse, lies, humiliation and dismissals by the German Government, and by the Bavarian authorities in particular, are really too much for us,” the group of families wrote in a letter to Bavarian authorities, who are organizing the September 5 memorial event. They said that while German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier accepted their demands for a public apology and the opening of archives with more information about the attack, the amount of compensation offered by Germany was “an insult.” A nkie Spitzer, the widow of Andre Spitzer, a fencing coach who was among those killed, said the families expected compensation according to internation al standards governing terror attacks. I was 26 when this happened in Munich. I’m 76 now. I don’t need a diamond ring,” she told The Associated Press. She said the families want “fair and just compensation,” especially for the 14 people who lost parents in the attack and have lived in its shadow for a half century. If they don’t want to come close to that, not even close, with their humili ating offer, then have your ceremonies, but we will not be there,” Spitzer said. She said the entire Israeli delegation of some 200 people, including Olympic athletes, would stay home. There was no immediate comment from German officials. I mmediately after the attack, Germany made payments to relatives of the victims amounting to about 4.19 million marks (about 2 million euros, or $2.09 million), according to the Interior Ministry. In 2002, the surviving relatives received an additional 3 million euros, Germany’s dpa news agency reported. Germany’s Interior Ministry said last month it was holding talks with the relatives and planned to offer further payments to the families. German media say Germany has offered 10 million euros to the families, which would include the payments already made. The government has not publicly revealed how much money it has offered. AP MEMBERS of the Qiyi bicycle club pose for a photo during a rest stop at a mountain summit near the end of a group ride through the Baihe River Canyon in the northern outskirts of Beijing. AP
Sports BusinessMirror A8 | SundAy, AuguSt 14, 2022 Editor:mirror_sports@yahoo.com.phJunLomibao
L ONDON—Tyson Fury has announced a return to boxing and has his sights set on a third bout against fellow Briton Derek Chisora. Fury said after his win over Dillian Whyte at London’s Wembley Stadium in April that he was retiring from the sport, but seems to have already changed his mind. I’ve decided to come back to boxing because I can be the first heavyweight champion in history to have two trilogies, one with Deontay Wilder, a second one with Derek Chisora,” the reigning WBC champion said in a video posted on social media. “I always said I would fight Derek Chisora at the end of my career.” Fury beat Chisora twice early in his career, before defeating Wladimir Klitschko in his first world title fight in 2015. He also defeated Wilder twice after their first title bout ended in a split decision draw. The undefeated Fury also posted a video on Instagram accusing Chisora of “running” from the fight and urging him to sign a contract. The 38-year-old Chisora replied with his own video telling Fury to “send me the paperwork.” A fi ght against Chisora would immediately heighten speculation of a possible unification bout between Fury and Oleksandr Usyk, the reigning World Boxing Association, International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Organization titleholder, or Anthony Joshua. Usyk takes on Joshua on August 20 in Saudi Arabia in a rematch of their fight in London last year. APONE of the most eagerly anticipated World Cups in memory—as much for off-the-field reasons as those on it—is just around the corner in Qatar.
Munich ’72 Olympics attack victims families to boycott German ceremony
BIG STARS LIONEL MESSI, Argentina. The seven-time world player of the year might have been saving his 35-year-old legs for one last push at a World Cup winner’s medal that, to many, would solidify him as soccer’s greatest player. C ristiano Ronaldo, Portugal. He has won the European Championship but the leading scorer in men’s international soccer hasn’t played in a World Cup final, let alone won one. He’s 37 years old now—make the most of him while you can. Kylian Mbappé, France. The star of the last World Cup at the age of 19 and he is only getting better. The speedy striker could match Brazil great Pelé in being a champion at his first two World Cups.
BIKING BOOMS IN, ER, NATIONCYCLINGCHINA
ANKIE SPITZER holds a framed photo her husband Andre had made for the Munich Olympics before his death as she poses in her home in Ramat Hasharon, Israel, last July.
Fury fights Chisora in return
K evin De Bruyne, Belgium. Widely regarded as the world’s best midfielder, his driving runs are among the best sights in soccer. Belgium just has to hope he arrives healthy. Ne ymar, Brazil. Increasingly overshadowed by Mbappé and Messi at Paris Saint-Germain, still the main man for Brazil. Watch out for tricks and flicks, and some histrionics, too.
R ides organized by cycling clubs or individual cyclists in Beijing take enthusiasts to outlying mountainous areas or by city landmarks including Tiananmen Square. For cyclist Yang Lan, the sport also provides an escape from the daily hassles of life in the coronavirus era. “With the pandemic...it seems to be the only way for us to run away from the terrible city life and pace,” she said. On a recent summer morning, Yang and 14 other cyclists biked along the Baihe River Canyon in rural northern Beijing despite the heat and humidity. In full cycling gear, they pedaled their racing bicycles hard on both level roads and slopes, sweating through a ride of more than 70 kilometers (45 miles) while enjoying spectacular views. Pedaling herself forward under her own efforts gives Yang an incomparable pleasure not to be gotten from riding a motorcycle or driving a car. It gives you a stronger sense of integration into the natural environment around you, so I find it more interesting,” said Yang, who started cycling in February, in the dead of winter, when she was looking for something new. The boom in cycling reflects the growing popularity of outdoor activities, said Feng Baozhong, vice president of the Chinese Cycling Association.Especially after the pandemic, people have a desire to walk out of rooms and buildings to do sports outdoors,” Feng said. Naturally, the trend has boosted the demand for bicycles. A merican bicycle brand Specialized says its Beijing stores’ sales rose 20 percent to 30 percent from March to June, compared to the same period a year earlier. It would be twice as large an increase if not for a shortage of bike products, said He Dong, who is in charge of the Beijing franchised dealer of Specialized.China’sbicycle market size stood at 80 billion to 100 billion yuan ($12 billion to $15 billion) in 2021, said Zhou Fuyuan, founder of Magic Cycling, an online bicycle information platform in China. Sales are forecast to reach $16.5 billion by 2026, according to online data published by Research and Markets, a market analysis firm. Surging demand and global supply chain issues mean those wanting to buy bicycles, particularly beginner or medium-level cyclists, must wait weeks or months to get a new cycle. For every Specialized model sold in Beijing at least 10 customers are waiting for their bikes to arrive, He said. Some choose to pay more for whatever bicycles are in stock. Joanna Lei doubled her budget and spent 60,000 yuan ($8,900) on her first racing bicycle. She said the money was better spent than on a luxury bag. “ What you are investing in is your own body and a very good workout habit,” she said. “I think it’s more valuable than clothes that you wear or handbags that you use.” People will have more choices for sports and entertainment when the pandemic is over, but Feng says he expects cycling to remain popular because it’s driven by China’s growing affluence, growth of the sports industry and increased concern about their health because of Covid-19. The pursuit of health will not vanish, so I think there is a good prospect for the sustainability [of cycling],” Feng said. The sport’s popularity is also a sign of the public’s growing awareness of environmental protection and pursuit of a low-carbon lifestyle. Such a lifestyle is probably healthier and is more beneficial to society.” Yang said. “I think people now have a good sense of environmental protection and hope to do good for society.” AP
BusinessMirror August 14, 2022 ‘I didn’t really learn anything’: Covid grads face college
How XTIE found her place in the music industry
“It has been six years from learning from nothing until with what I have released now,” XTIE recounts.XTIEhas earned support from various platforms namely BBC Radio Scotland, RTHK, Commercial Radio Hong Kong, SCMP Young Post, LOCK Magazine UK, The Noise Gate UK, Music Crowns, and HONK Magazine.Her2021 single Frenemy ranked 1st on the RTHK Global chart. XTIE notes, however, that music has been a part of her childhood despite only discovering the urge to pursue it in her 20s. She originally started playing the piano at 12, saying, “I didn’t fall in-love with piano but I started to play around the keys and learned how to do ‘pop’ piano.”That was also the time when XTIE learned how to write songs, until realizing she could make demos out of what she already knew. She added that her initial knowledge
Contributing
BusinessMirror YOUR MUSIC AUGUST 14, 2022 | soundstrip.businessmirror@gmail.com2
The Philippine Business Mirror Publishing, Inc., with offices on the 3rd Floor of Dominga Building III 2113 Chino Roces Avenue corner Dela Rosa Street, Makati City, Philippines. Tel. Nos. (Editorial) 817-9467; 813-0725. Fax line: 813-7025 Advertising Sales: 8893-2019;17-1351,817-2807. Circulation: 893-1662; 814-0134 to 36. www.businessmirror.com.ph Publisher : Editor-In-Chief : Concept : Y2Z Editor : SoundStrip Editor : Group Creative Director : Graphic Designers : Writers : : Photographers : She originally majored in social studies in City University of Hong Kong. It was only in her last year of college, during her exchange study in University of Strathclyde, when she discovered her love for music. Being in Glasgow allowed XTIE to discover music through joining music camps and enrolling in music courses. At the same time, she also started watching videos on Youtube about music production. She recounts that a music studio was right next to her dorm in Glasgow. “I was checking their masterclasses every weekend to see if I could sit in, and that’s when it started where I was like, ‘This is how music production is like.’” “I didn’t know that I wanted to pursue music back then,” the 27-year-old artist said. “At that time, I was like, ‘This is something I really want to Afterpursue.’”graduating from university, XTIE still took a regular “day job.” However, she managed to get in a few music production sidelines in hopes of “improving her skills.”
SELF-MADE ARTIST
From there, she borrowed the perspective of an alien—a mythical creature that is isolated from the rest. “This song is dedicated to people who are left out, meaning even if we are left out, we can build our own spaceship and do our little experiment and we can skyrocket it,” she XTIEsaid.added, “I also want to let my audience know that we are okay to be alone in a spaceship because the spaceship can protect us.”
T. Anthony C. Cabangon Lourdes M. Fernandez Aldwin M. Tolosa Jt EdwinNisayP. Sallan Eduardo A. Davad Niggel NonieBernardAnnieLosorataKayePatrickLeonyRickTonyAnabelleFigueroaO.FloresM.Maghirang,Olivares,Garcia,MiguelVillagomez-S.AlejoP.TestaReyes
Columnists
Y2Z & SOUNDSTRIP are published and distributed free every Sunday by the Philippine Business Daily Mirror Publishing Inc. as a project of the
By Patrick Miguel WHEN she was younger, XTIE never imagined being in the music industry until her early 20s.
on music production and making demos was gathered from watching free tutorial videos on Youtube. Despite her still-rising success in music, the Hong Kong-based artist still works a regular job. “I work in a charity [where] I manage and curate art programs for the youth in Hong Kong.” “We do a lot of community projects and elderly projects, and we use art to bring people together,” she added. Finding her place THE inspiration behind her newest release Spaceship, XTIE shares, is rooted from her experience of never fitting in with any circles as a young girl. “I grew up feeling like I couldn’t really get into any circle,” she said. “Growing up, I can’t really blend into any of the circles because I have different roots to pursue.”
Spaceship was released on July 8 this year. It exhibits a soft electropop approach with sweeping melodies, carrying a memorable chorus, “I’ll take my spaceship without you.” Since the release of her new single Spaceship, XTIE has been optimistic on her music based on the positive reviews lately. “I am so thrilled to be able to have my songs—my stories—reach outside of Hong Kong. I’m really thankful that people love Spaceship.” The self-made independent artist was able to perform in her debut concert “Badtime Story Live 2021” and looks forward to performing in other countries as soon as the COVID-19 travel restrictions ease. Addressing her fans, XTIE said, “I’m really looking forward to being able to travel around and come to you guys to sing and perform. This is my dream.”XTIE’s new single ‘Spaceship’ is now available in all music platforms.
XTIE
UTCPLUS8, DAVE ANONUEVO “Pay To Win” P ERFECT for a midnight joyride, UTCPLUS8 takes us through “Pay To Win’’ , an ode to the intricacies of a failing relationship and the unhinged no strings attached feelings for the other person, The song puts the listener in a situation where while you have given your all, you don’t get anything in return in an apparently unbalanced relationship built upon materialistic pursuits. “Pay To Win” contains samples from video games, such as the “coin” sound effect, as a metaphor for playing with a lover’s affection. The duo UTCPLUS8 got their biggest break appearing on celebrity actor Inigo Pascual’s latest album.
soundstrip.businessmirror@gmail.com | AUGUST 14, 2022 3 BUSINESSMUSIC
REDFEATHER “Parallel Universe” R EDFEATHER is the nom de musique of electronic artist Marianne Monique Limjap Sison, In the “Parallel Universe,” she unleashes subtle melodic synths and rhythmic percussion when the track begins that subsides to a healing sensation where it Whisperingends. melancholic choral starts the musical journey towards a profound sense of awareness. As heightened emotions build up, there’s an organic feel to the percussion as if washing off the old to regain anew. The singular track then breaks open the soul drawn from reverberating cello strings simultaneously playing in slow and fast motion.
IAN SNDRZ, TIAGO MEIRELES, NATALIA MOON “Help”
AVENERABLE track expressing one’s “darkest hour,” “Help” essays how it is hard to reach out to someone for help or expose one’s vulnerability in a desperate situation. Songwriter Natalia Moon expresses her reallife circumstance after losing someone close to her and the emotions it triggered when she felt “drowning in too deep”. The trio of Ian Sndrz, Tiago Meireles and Natalia Moon worked collaboratively battling different time zones. Ian and Tiago created the unique instrumentals and upbeat drops to compliment the soft sentimental lyrics.
JRLDM, CHYNO With A Why? “Fade Away”
M thesongwriterMusikaMusicreleasestheMatitinag”buthassongwriterBicolanoULTI-AWARDEDsinger-KarlRamirezjustreleasedasolemnpowerfultracktitled“Di(Unshakable),firstinaseriesofthroughBelievePhilippinesandPubliko.Karlistheandfrontmanofsociallyrelevantpop-rockbandPordalabbasedinQuezonCity.KarlRamirezshares,“Amidsttheanxiety,mixedemotions,andevenhopelessnessthatFilipinosareprobablyfeelingrightnow,IhopeIcanhelpinraisingtheirspiritthroughmysong,‘DiMatitinag’.Whenlife’schallengesseemtobeinsurmountable,whenwefeelnowayoutoftheoppression,Ihopetoinspireandmoveusallintotherightdirection.”
T HIS song is all about escape, reassurance, and hope that problems fade away as better days come. It expresses reconciliation with oneself to live a full life in this Bataan-bornworld.JRLDM delivers songs that kindle awareness on challenging topics facing today’s youth. Chyno with a Why? is a Syrian-Filipino rapper-producer, part of the legendary Lebanese Hip Hop crew Fareeq El Atrash based out of Beirut, Lebanon. Their new single marks the first international collaboration between artists from the Middle East and the Philippines.
F ILIPINA singer-songwriter Bea Lorenzo, best known for her prowess with the kalimba, teams up with Singapore-based artist Benjamin Kheng for the second time with the release of “Panandalian,” a Tagalog rendition of their initial collab track “Good For A Time.” With lyrics translated by Jarlo Bâse, “Panandalian,” meaning ‘momentary’ in Tagalog, “stretches a brief moment into a bittersweet 2-1/2 minute imagining of young love and the peace that comes with letting go,” Lorenzo reminisces. Kheng adds, “Being separated by miles due to the pandemic gave an added depth to the reality of the song. The song’s story felt like it could live in any world or language, and singing it in Tagalog gave it such a deeper sense of longing.”
BEA LORENZO,KHENGBENJAMIN “Panandalian”
More sampling of new OPM singles
KARL RAMIREZ “Di Matitinag”
SoundSampler by Tony M. Maghirang
By Collin Binkley
The Associated Press AngelmathlookedHopeatthetestand felt lost. He had just graduated near the top of his high school class, winning scholarships from prestigious colleges. But on this test—a University of Wisconsin exam that measures what new students learned in high school— all he could do was guess. It was like the disruption of the pandemic was catching up to him all at once. Nearly a third of Hope’s high school career was spent at home, in virtual classes that were hard to follow and easy to brush aside. Some days he skipped school to work extra hours at his job. Some days he played games with his brother and sister. Other days he just stayed in bed. Algebra got little of his attention, but his teachers kept giving him good grades amid a school-wide push for leniency. “It was like school was optional. It wasn’t a mandatory thing,” said Hope, 18, of Milwaukee. “I feel like I didn’t really learn anything.”Across the country, there are countless others like him. Hundreds of thousands of recent graduates are heading to college this fall after spending more than half their high school careers dealing with the upheaval of a pandemic. They endured a jarring transition to online learning, the strains from teacher shortages and profound disruptions to their home lives. And many are believed to be significantly behind academically. Surge of studentsunprepared COllegeS could see a surge in students unprepared for the demands of college-level work, education experts say. Starting a step behind can raise the risk of dropping out. And that can hurt everything from a person’s long-term earnings to the health of the country’sTheworkforce.extent of the problem became apparent to Allison Wagner as she reviewed applications for All-In Milwaukee, a scholarship program that provides financial aid and college counseling to low-income students, includingWagner,Hope.the group’s executive director, saw startling numbers of students who were granted permission to spend half the school day working part-time jobs their senior year, often at fast food chains or groceries. And she saw more students than ever who didn’t take math or science classes their senior year, often as a result of teacher shortages. “We have so many students who are going on to college academically malnourished,” Wagner said. “There is no way they are going to be academically prepared for the rigor of college.”Hergroup is boosting its tutoring budget and covering tuition for students in the program who take summer classes in math or science. Still, she fears the setbacks will force some students to take more than four years to graduate or, worse, drop out. “The stakes are tremendously high,” she said.
Covid grads face college
“I think isolating myself was a little bit of my coping mechanism,” he said. “I was kind of like, ‘Keep it in a little bit and you’ll get through it eventually.’”
BusinessMirror August 14, 20224 V
ACCINATed and masked college students had virtually no chance of catching Covid-19 in the classroom last fall, according to a sweeping study of 33,000 Boston University students that bolsters standard prevention measures. The researchers screened the college’s health records to find nine sets of students who developed Covid at about the same time, were in class together without social distancing and had no known contact outside school, suggesting that they might have transmitted it in the classroom. However, genome analysis of coronavirus samples from the groups showed that all of them more likely were infected in other places. “When we looked at the genomes and compared them to one another, they were cousins but not closer than that,” said Boston University School of Medicine virologist John Connor, a co-author. He said the study in the journal JAMA Network Open provides an answer to a nervous question common last fall: “I just walked into a class with 80 people in it. How do I know I’m not going to catch disease from them?” The university was able to perform the study because of its comprehensive, in-house testing program that includes genomic analysis of virus samples. The semester under study included 140,000 class meetings with a mean size of 31 students, virtually all of whom were vaccinated as required. Classrooms were well ventilated, the researchers said.In-class masking was mandatory at the time the samples were taken, in contrast to this coming fall, when many colleges will have lifted requirements. Another difference between then and now: the delta variant dominated last fall, while more contagious omicron variants like BA.5 now reign. Those differences surely matter, Connor said, but the study’s finding that in-class transmission among masked and vaccinated students was negligible can still inform future decisions about measures to take during outbreaks.
n The Associated Press education team receives support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Associated Press writer Carrie Antlfinger in Milwaukee contributed.
Masked, vaccinated students didn’t catch Covid in classrooms
Bloomberg ‘I didn’t really learn anything’:
An ‘awakening’ T He pandemic led many high schoolers to disengage at a time when they would usually be preparing for college or careers, said Rey Saldaña, president and C eO of Communities in Schools, a nonprofit group that places counselors in public schools in 26 states.His group worked in some districts where hundreds of students simply didn’t return after classrooms reopened. In Charlotte, North Carolina, the allure of steady paychecks kept many students away from school even after in-person classes resumed, said Shakaka Perry, a reengagement coordinator for Communities in Schools. Perry and her colleagues spent last school year bringing students back to school and getting them ready for graduation. But when she thinks about whether they’re ready for college, she has doubts: “It’s going to be an awakening.”Acouplemonths after struggling through his math placement test, Hope headed to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, for six weeks of intense classes at a summer bridge program. He took a math class that covered the ground he missed in high school, and he’s signed up to take calculus in the fall. He also revived basic study skills that went dormant in high school. He started studying at the library. He got used to the rhythms of school, with assignments every day and tests every other week. He rediscovered what it’s like to enjoy school. Most importantly, he says it changed his mindset: Now he feels like he’s there to learn, not just to get by. “After this, I definitely feel prepared for college,” he said. “If I didn’t have this, I would be in a very bad place.”
Angel Hope listens in a math class as part of an intense six-week summer bridge program for students of color and first-generation students at the University of Wisconsin, in Madison, Wis., July 27, 2022. Hope says he didn’t feel ready for college after online classes in high school caused him fall behind but says the bridge classes made him feel more confident. AP
‘Bridge’ programs ReSeARCHeR S say it’s clear that remote instruction caused learning setbacks, most sharply among Black and Hispanic students. For younger students, there’s still hope that America’s schools can accelerate the pace of instruction and close learning gaps. But for those who graduated in the last two years, experts fear many will struggle. In anticipation of higher needs, colleges from New Jersey to California have been expanding “bridge” programs that provide summer classes, often for students from lower incomes or those who are the first in their families to attend college. Programs previously treated as orientation are taking on a harder academic edge, with a focus on math, science and study skills. In Hanceville, Alabama, Wallace State Community College this year tapped state money to create its first summer bridge program as it braces for an influx of underprepared students. Students could take three weeks of accelerated lessons in math and english in a bid to avoid remedial classes.Theschool hoped to bring up to 140 students to campus, but just 10 signed up. Other states have used federal pandemic relief to help colleges build summer programs. In Kentucky, which gave colleges $3.5 million for the effort this year, officials called it a “moral“Weimperative.”needthese people to be our future workforce, and we need them to be successful,” said Amanda ellis, a vice president of Kentucky’s Council on Postsecondary education.After the pandemic hit, Angel Hope worked up to 20 hours a week at his job with a local nonprofit aid group. He felt the time away from school was worth it for the money, especially when nobody was paying attention in the online classes. With his parents away at work, he often felt alone, shunning social media for days and eating ramen noodles for dinner.
