Echoes April-May 2019 by Echoes

The First Black Hole Image by Paolo Jorge

Scav 2019 by LA Manlangit

The Hottest Ecosocer by Gab Rivera

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Cover Story: Heat with Stephanie Shin by Javi Vilchez

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Nice Day by Isaac Magpantay

Wherever the Wind Blows by Steff Menor

And It Was Lit by Mia Cruz

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The Coolest Ecosocer by Gab Rivera

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ECHOE S 61A PUBLICATION

E DITOR-IN-CH IEF AS S OCIATE EDITOR STAFF A

STAFF B

Echoes is the official publication of the UP Economics Society (UP Ecosoc), a nonstock, non-profit, student organization based in the University of the Philippines Diliman School of Economics.

COMMUNICATIONS E DI TO R IAL ASSISTANT STAFF

Echoes is released two to four times a semester and six times in a year on the months of March, April, August, September, October, and November. It draws its funding from a subsidy from UP Ecosoc, and small fundraisers. For this semester, one copy of the issue is produced to be read freely by the members of the organization. This publication is printed by Yza Copy Systems and Trading, located at Katipunan, Quezon City.

for more information, visit: echoes.ph issuu.com/echoes All errors are corrected when uploaded on issuu.com/echoes. If you spot an error, please email us. NO PART OF THIS PUBLICATION MAY BE REPRODUCED WITHOUT PERMISSION.

Julia Castellon Jego Agabin Alyanna Basbas Lawrence Chu Joaquin De Guzman Glenn Guy Nikki Liu LA Manlangit Mario Quimbo Patrick Santos Robyn Sason

EVENTS MAN AGING EDITOR STAFF

Meira De Luna Ky l a B a l i t a Mia Cruz Paolo Jorge Kelsey Mariano Celina Pacana Bianca Rañola Jabby Aurelio Paolo Bisuña Gail Gibe Miguel Rodriguez Javi Vilchez

Fides Morales Moon Artadi Carlo Cabato Max Capili Mico Fernandez Jeremy Gemzontan Ann Geron Jand Magpantay Joseph Marasigan Jolo Zagala

CONTRIBUTORS

Miguel Rodriguez Sarah See Paolo Jorge Andrew Banaag Mia Cruz LA Manlangit Steff Menor Joergen Camara Steph Shin Meira De Luna Gab Rivera Sab Go Jeremy Gemzontan

Harvey Sanga Franz Cruz Isaac Magpantay Gab Rivera Javi Vilchez Julian Songsong Ky l a B a l i t a Isay Lingat Gem Agudo

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EDI TOR’S LE T T ER E C H O E S |

Last time, I barely released Bel’s issue. After that, it dawned on me: Christ, I have to do this two more times. If the first issue was made out of fear, this one was made out of pure exhaustion. Is every issue made with tears and pain? Why does it always have to be that way? Why can’t an issue be made smoothly, on time, and exactly the way we want, just for once? Guess life just ain’t fair. Regardless, I’m proud of this one, short and sweet as it may be. This is the CHALEUR issue, and if you’re one of those French nerds, this word is french for heat. Pretty explanatory, if you ask me. April and May were intensely hot, plus, we get to play around with whatever metaphors that are attributed to heat. So where does the one and only Stephanie Shin get into the picture? With a theme like CHALEUR, it would only be natural to get someone who was extremely attractive, or at least the one with the warmest personality. Those aren’t bad options, but those are the most obvious options. Here at Echoes, we don’t want to be obvious. People like Steph are perceived as the one chill and reliable stoner friend that you can count on. That’s great, but I don’t want people to see her as just that. I’m certain that there’s much more to her than she lets on, and we’re all missing it. There’s a certain spark, or energy, and it would be a waste if we don’t get a glimpse of it. But more importantly, the way Steph does push ups is crazy. Now THAT is hot.

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Dracarys.

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A LYA N N A B E R N A R D O Hey, Ecosoc! Can’t believe we’re ending our first semester [] So glad to have spent it with all of you guys! Thank you for your constant support of events and for being so active this sem. From ADHOCs to comm work to inumans to Scav, thank y’all for everything! With that also, am glad to have 14 new members who I’m sure will be great additions to the org! So so thankful for the way this sem has gone, and of course so thankful to the 9 wonderful members of Jano’s Angels [] without y’all, we wouldn’t be where we are today. LUV U ALL! To the seniors, thank you for all you’ve done for the org! Best of luck in the real world! And to the rest of our current members, hope to see you all next sem! We got a lot in store []

KARLA BULAN SCHOLARSHIP COMMITTEE Hi Ecosoc! Three of our five high school scholars have just graduated, and our own member, Derrick, has also graduated!! (CONGRATS!!) Scholcom also got to meet most of our scholars. I hope you all get to meet them soon. Thank you all so much for the sem, and it was an honor to serve all of you. Thank you & goodbye! <3 Karla

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C I E LO V E RZO SA ACADEMIC AFFAIRS Hey there, Ecosoc! Time truly does fly when you’re having fun, ‘no? I’m beside myself as I look back on what Acad has accomplished this semester; a successful fundraiser, value-adding tutorials, the semestral recognition day, hot hot hot statements, educational worksheets, a list of job and internship opportunities, a free-flowing box of supplies, and Twitter gimmicks that for sure has made y’all smile at one point or another. It may not seem much, but I’m hella proud of all of them.

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I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who were there for this sem-long journey; Execomm 61A, my Team Heads, the Squammy-ezt Academic Affairs, Diablue, all the mems, and all the apps (na new mems na ngayon lmao). None of these would be possible without all of you. It was fun and such an honor to work with you and for you.

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COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

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BETINA SALES

Frankly, I don’t know how to write these sappyass messages but, damn, this really be the last time I’m writing in this corner. Thank you to all whom I met along the way; thanks to y’all for being unapologetically you. Ecosoc, you will always have my heart (and apparently, also my liver).

Hii Ecosoc! As this sem comes to an end, I wanna thank you first and foremost for making Ecosoc’s heart full <3 We’ve had a total of 6 ACDCs 1 Recog Day 4 Vendors Electives 3 Caravans 2 Twitter Campaigns and donation drives too many to mention HAHA I hope all these have made you realize the impact that you can make in other’s lives hehe Giffy is eternally grateful and excited to see you in the next CDC events! But in the meantime, pahinga muna si Giffy - you guys too! mwa

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MEIRA DE LUNA ECHOES Wassup, Ecosoc! I AM SO TIRED. I BET YOU’RE TIRED AS WELL. Tiring as this semester was, I’m just glad that we made it through, and give my warmest thanks to all the people who made things happen, even if they seemed almost impossible. It’s because of them that we got to have three issues, hard-hitting hoeroscopes, scandalous submissions, and a humble neon lit Litnight. Damn, we did it! Barely, but we did it nonetheless. To the 33 bastard children of Echoes, I cannot thank you enough for tolerating me as your teen mother. To those graduating, may you never be locked into the monotony of life.

H E AT H E R TA B L A N T E EXTERNAL AFFAIRS Hi Ecosoc! Exte wants to thank you for supporting our events and initiatives the past few months. We had a talk from John Robert Powers about personal branding, focused on building mutually beneficial partnerships with organizations, and made sure this term’s privilege card will be a success. We hope you have fun this break! See ya next sem!

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NICOLE FORMOSO FINANCE heylo ecosoc!!

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yay its been another sem of making money and losing it woot woot but dont worry its more on making it naman hehe the ecosoc bank account rn is projected to have positive netflows for the end of this semester! (this doesnt always happen according to past fin statements ehehheeh) this was done with the help of: - piggy b as the new mascot of fin - monthly piggy b updates and a semestral update (stay tuned for this!) - Finance Initiative’s Spark Bazaar that has earned 55k (with 5k receivables and 4k worth of rita’s ice cream gcs lolz) - Management’s new system made with d vision of longevity - Fundraiser’s UP merch sale and genmeet grub sales

but more than these initiatives, it’s the people behind them that really made them happen and made fin better than it was before!! thank u so much to fin 61a mems who have done their efforts to do what they can for the committee <3 yall r hot and i hope ur experiences in fin helped u grow in one way or anotha

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BUT EVEN MORE THAN FIN 61A, we L I A Q U E R I J E R O also owe the stable fin state of ecosoc to the MEMBERSHIP committees that have abided by the fin processes from budgeting to spending to remitting!! hope Hi, Ecosoc! I’m writing this on the sands of you all know that every peso counts and i really La Union, the morning after dancing with you all hope everyone knows even the smallest of our night. So far, the 35 members of the Membership spendings and earnings affect the org and its Committee has accomplished the following: future endeavors !! yay tnx ecosoc stay hydrated and see u next sem???

-updated Mem Status -clarified rules on Membership -managed the app process -officially recruited 14 new Ecosoc members -organized 7 major socials & welfare events, countless initiatives in between We thank you for your consistent participation in anything #Ecosoc. We hope to see more of you in the days to come. <3, Lia

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JANO DELEÑA SECRETARIAT

Hola! Ecosoc! Malapit na finals week, so aral aral na dinnn. Anyway, I’m proud of what has Seccom accomplished for this sem. Overall, we have produced 30+ internal and external pubs, 3 seccom newsletter +1 SOON, 2 workshops, and 1 reorganized tambayan. I’m proud of my team heads, Harvey and Jan for doing their job and spreading out information and creativity throughout the organization. Also, I would like to thank my 17 seccom members who also joined in the seccom family. I hope you have enjoyed our work and I hope you would also join in seccom parin next sem :(( Sorry if wala tayo masyadong kainan this sem pero babawi ako for next sem HAHAHA. Anyway, goodluck also to our 11 members (Rella, Lia, Sheena, Sam, Miggy, Annika, Eryel, Roma, Kaara, Cholo, and Kevin) who will graduate this sem. I know you will all have a great future ahead. Seccom will miss you all! :((

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N NEWS

News by the Numbers. Ecosoc Against Sexual Harrasment. The First Black Hole. spark! A Lifestyle Bazaar. A New Era, a New Mindset. BAMF Takes The Crown: Scav 2019 in Retrospect. Wherever the Wind Blows. Tahanan: An Econ Week Caravan. Apps Externals Project. UPFront 2019.

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NEWS BY THE NUMBERS by MIGUEL RODRIGUEZ

37.8

105

Highest recorded temperature in the Philippines in 2019

Cancelled Cebu Pacific flights per day due to system recovery

Days paid maternity leave credits

274

Maximum number of senators to vote for this senatorial elections 2019

The amount of people in the Ecosoc Facebook group.

Grumpy Catâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s age before she passed away.

$1.2B Earned by Avengers: Endgame on their debut worldwide

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3 hrs, 2 mins Run time of Avengers: Endgame

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ECOS O C V E R S US S E XUAL HARRASM EN T by SARAH SEE “This is a man’s world, this is a man’s world But it wouldn’t be nothing, nothing without a woman or a girl” -Lyrics from Etta James’ song back in 2005 In the society we live in, women are seen as second-class citizens. Even with women empowerment movements, women are still portrayed as weak. Women are vulnerable to domestic violence, physical, emotional and sexual abuse. Some even reason that these occur because of the clothing choice of a woman. With these accounts, victims stay silent and suffer from trauma as sexual harassment is taboo. It can happen in broad daylight at the workplace or even in school. Today, we recognize that anyone can be just as fragile and weak regardless of sex. Today, anyone can be a target or a victim of sexual harassment. This is why it is essential to create safe spaces for people to talk about these personal and societal concerns. The world is changing with technology advancements and the mobility of people, seeking for a better life in other countries. The consequences of these advancements are manifested through the new diseases that spread, the gaps in gender equality and the other global challenges that threaten welfare. Meanwhile, people are able to share ideas and information with the development of communications technology. In fact, #MeToo is one of the notable movements through social media that provided an avenue for victims of sexual harassment to speak up. Last April 2, the Community Development Committee in partnership with the Office of Anti-Sexual Harassment (OASH) held an orientation and workshop on the anti-sexual harassment (ASH) code, sexual harassment, and gender issues for the members. According to Republic Act 7877 or better known as the Anti-Sexual Harassment Act of 1995, sexual harassment in the employment, education or training environment, and for other purposes as an unlawful act. UP implements this act through the OASH which deems all forms of sexual harassment as unacceptable. Moreover, the implementation of the ASH code is effective in all UP campus units and covers all the members of the UP community including organizations, non-teaching personnel, otherUPworkers, and the like. As

defined

section

the

code,

“sexual harassment is unwanted, unwelcome, uninvited behavior of a sexual nature or inappropriate sexual advances or offensive remark about a person’s sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity.” It was elaborated in the event that there are several mediums and means that a person could commit this act. Additionally, concrete examples of sexual harassment that could apply to the school setting were also mentioned. The scope that the code covers as well 16

as the liable people depend on the nature and time when the crime was done. (E.g. sexual harassment in an event of an organization puts the officers liable). It is the duty of the executive committee members to encourage the parties to bring the concern to OASH for investigation and proper facilitation of the action to be taken against the offender.

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Through this event, the Ecosoc members were informed about the classification of offenses and their severity. Did you know that if you are deemed to be guilty by the OASH a remark indicating your filed case and delinquency in the university will be placed in your transcript of records when you graduate? Yup, it will be in your records forever. With that said, it is better to exercise cautious in one’s actions. The OASH together with the ASH council is open and very willing to help those who are victims of sexual harassment. Furthermore, the OASH will aid in taking the steps to cope with the experience.

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At the end of the day, all the learnings could be put to practice by prevent these acts before they happen through orientations and workshops like these. By being informed individuals, we could be a beacon of hope by using our hands and our words to help those in need.

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“It’s better to light a candle than curse the darkness.”

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“We have seen what we thought was unseeable” This was what Sheperd Doelman, Director of the Event Horizon Telescope (EHC) and Astrophysicist at the HarvardSmithsonian Center said after the EHC, a large network of radio telescope takes the first picture of a black hole.

T H E F I R ST B L AC K H O L E I M AG E by PAO JORGE

Though some may find it ridiculous that it took almost 2 decades and 960 computer drives to take a simple photograph but as John Michell explained in 1783, “our universe harbored dark stars who density was so great and gravity so strong that all light emitted from such a body would be made to return towards it. In other words, taking a picture of a black hole is not simple as taking a family portrait because photographs need light and a black hole does not allow it escape. This near impossibility however did not stop Astronomers from finally taking the photo because they released that though virtually invisible, black hole still casts a shadow, and it was this fact which scientists leaned on since 1999. They also used a process called Interferometry where ripples from an object emitting them could be measured by placing some detectors around the edge.

Image Source: PBS

Aside from the obvious victory for Humanity as a whole, it was also considered a victory for Women in Science. Because tonnes and tonnes of data were being shot back to Earth, it was difficult to turn these into an actual picture so Katie Bouman, a computer scientist from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology developed a new algorithm which would put all these information together. In the end, such a feat is only the beginning as Man continues to understand its final frontier. Who knows, maybe the more we look out into the cosmos, the more we understand of our own selves.

Image Source: BBC 18

Image Source: BBC

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Image Source: Redbubble

S PA R K ! A LIFESTYLE BAZAAR

by ANDREW BANAAG

I guess it’s pretty difficult to set up a bazaar. As a young child, I would always gaze in awe at the little trinkets and food items all laid out in such orderly manner as to attract perhaps a customer or two. I never would have thought, however, that I’d grow up helping out an organization put up one or two or three of these bazaars every now and then, and Spark was nothing out of the ordinary. Spark is just one of the names of Ecosoc’s bi-semestral bazaar held usually at the Ayala Technohub. The Finance committee handles this, but more specifically the Financial Initiatives team. Work begins usually around 6 months before the actual first day of the bazaar, but the team heads decided that, due to last year’s difficulties, we’d begin almost a year early. My specific job was that of Logistics, and I was tasked with looking for a tents and chairs suppliers. I had honestly thought that this would be a walk in the park, as bazaars in the area were not uncommon, and therefore there were probably many suppliers to choose from. This was, however, not the case. Being someone who was not from the area, I literally had no idea where to start. I did ask around from past organizers of FI’s bazaars, but those that I managed to contact were way over budget, and therefore we did not pursue. In the end, FI as a team was able to find a tent supplier which was quite below the given budget.

The next phase in ensure Spark’s success was of course acquiring concessionaires. This would be the bread and butter of the bazaar, as without the concessionaires, what use would be the tents we’d get? Although I wasn’t part of the sub-team in charge of e-mailing and messaging concessionaires wherever they could be found, I did volunteer to try and get some. As the bulk of the work was already done by those sending out e-mails, my head gave me the task of simply messaging Instagram shops to try and get them to participate in Spark. This was, again, more difficult than I would have ever imagined. In order to message these IG shops, you’d have to follow each and every one of them. This obviously sounded like something you could do easily on a laptop or PC, but you can’t message Instagram accounts (apparently) on a desktop. You’d have to use a smartphone, and despite having a scripted message for these shops, the app itself doesn’t allow messages to be too long, so you’d have to send more than one message just to get that one message across. It was extremely infuriating to say the least, and inefficient if I may add. In the end, we were able to get enough concessionaires to profit about 90k, which honestly was amazing. The next phase of bazaar was the actual bazaar itself. It was set to start on Tuesday, April 30 and end on Friday, May 3. The Monday of that week, April 29, was of course ingress. Due to unforeseen circumstances (a.k.a. academics), I was only able to watch over Spark on the Wednesday of that week. I left my dorm at around 11 and arrived there at 12, the sun beating down on my already brown neck. Long story

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short, however, nothing much happened the entire 3 or so hours I was there, other than sweating and one concessionaire asking for the chairs we were sitting on. Now I canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t say I really experienced much of what Spark had to offer. From my other co-officers, I heard some hilarious and horrendous stories of concessionaires doing things they really thought they would. I would like to, however, personally use this platform to thank Joshua, Ian, and Nics for being such

amazing heads and congratulate them for the success (and profit) that Spark brought to Ecosoc. I pray that next time around, I do spend more time, and I do implore more of the Ecosocers to do at least visit the next bazaar that Ecosoc organizes. Planning something as mundane as a bazaar is nothing short of easy, and the least we can all do is visit and make the organizers feel that their work did not go in vain.

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Image Source: Nikkei Asian Review

A NEW ERA, A NEW MINDSET b y MIA CRUZ

“It’s great to see a peaceful time. I’m so full of emotion.” These are the words that 108-year-old war veteran Masao Matsumoto used to describe his anticipation for the incoming era, which will see the ascension of Crown Prince Naruhito to the Japanese throne following the abdication of his father Emperor Akihito. Matsumoto has lived through five eras, having been born during the Meiji Era that saw Japan’s first steps towards modernization. Japan’s more recent eras since are experiencing many transitions as well. Emperor Akihito’s Heisei era, which began in 1989, saw a Japan recovering from the negative effects of war and a questioning of traditional family roles and values following multiple economic shocks. Takeshi Goto, a renowned historian of the Heisei era, describes it as “the quiet, turbulent era,” alluding to the word Heisei meaning “peace.” He says, “It’s quiet in that, unlike the preceding Showa era, there was no world war, but turbulent in that many systems put into place over decades and centuries came tumbling down.” Emperor Akihito had expressed his desire to step down, fearing that he may not properly do his duties due to his age and his health. There were no laws allowing the emperor to abdicate, with the last abdication in Japan occurring in 1817. However, a survey by Kyodo News stated that

85% supported the legalization of abdication. The Japanese government eventually enacted an abdication bill into law in 2017, announcing that Emperor Akihito would be stepping down on April 30 this year with Crown Prince Naruhito succeeding him the day after.

HAR M ONY

Overall, the Japanese people are looking forward to the new era. The country is currently plagued with issues from its aging population, but many are optimistic that the Reiwa Era, with its name of well-balanced and beautiful characters, will give the Japanese people a more positive mindset. Junzo Matoba, a bureaucrat who helped choose the Heisei name, mused, “Japanese people love to ‘reset’ things. A new era, a new mindset.” 23

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- WA

The era transition presents a challenge to technology and calendar makers, reminiscent of the “Y2K” scare of the late 90s. The fear of that time was a technological apocalypse occurring due to computers being unable to process the date of the year 2000. However, Microsoft Japan’s spokesperson Kazunori Ishii stated that there will not be as much a problem this time, as IT is more widely used nowadays. Much software updates will go into Japanese computers such that they may literally keep up with the times.

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Japan still uses Chinese-style imperial calendars despite

Image Source: SBS

Jeff Kingston, director of Asian studies at the Temple University in Tokyo, also noted that the name reflects the current rightward trend in Japanese politics. The character for “wa” is the same as that used of Emperor Hirohito’s Showa era, which saw Japan as one of the major powers during the Second World War. He remarked that it is “consistent with Abe’s ongoing efforts to try to promote a more positive narrative of Japan’s wartime past.” The choice of the word “Reiwa” also breaks the tradition of era names being taken from Chinese literature, which could be a subtle dig at the current relations between the two countries.

GOOD F ORT U N E

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On April 1 this year, the Japanese government announced the choice of the word “Reiwa” for the incoming era. The word is taken from the “Manyoshu,” an 8th century anthology of classic poetry, with the characters of “rei” meaning “good fortune” and “wa” meaning “harmony.” Prime Minister Shinzo Abe stated that the name signifies the importance of the country’s culture and the harmony of its citizens. It evokes “Japan’s long history, rich culture, and beautiful nature.”

REI-

adopting the Gregorian calendar in 1873. The era system has been in place since the 7th century, with emperors sometimes switching names halfway through their rule following major disasters or crises. But more recently, the era names last for the whole reign of the emperor. Imperial dates are typically used on government documents, newspapers, and commercial calendars. The Japanese generally find it easier to identify events based on whose era it is, an example of which is identifying the bubble burst of the 90s as a part of the early Heisei Era.

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B A M F TA K E S T H E C R O W N : S C AV 2 0 1 9 I N R E T R O S P E C T LA MANLANGIT

Last April 22-27, 2019, the Scav team held the 2019 iteration of the annual Ecosoc Challenge Week and Scavenger Hunt. It pitted three teams against each other in a battle for bragging rights: the green team called BAMF (Bel, Finance and Memcomm), the blue team called DIABLUE (CDC, Acad and Seccom), and the red team called EEE (Externals and Echoes). The team captains per team were Julienne Francisco, Joshua Villanueva, and Mario Quimbo, respectively. Who would emerge victorious in this grueling fight to the finish? Well, the title gives it away, but please indulge me as a take you back to the adventure that was these 6 days of mayhem. First, let’s start with Challenge Week, which took place from April 22 to April 26. As the three teams jockeyed for position, Day 1 (Monday) included a story weaved ala-Bandersnatch, as teams would race to finish the episode by guessing answers to questions that advanced the story. EEE would come out on top. Day 2 (Tuesday) was very egg-citing (Right? Right?), as teams performed dares ranging from milk tea to ground licking,

all to win eggs that would also be used in the night’s final game. BAMF would take Day 2, but then a suspension of classes led to a rest period spanning the entire day of Wednesday. The teams were right back at it on Thursday (Day 3), as they once again performed dares, but this time, did so to minimize the cursed members of their team, decided by Larry, Anne, Gilbert, Marites, Amber and Nicolas, the multiple-personality masters of the game. Not letting the rest day take them off their game, BAMF once again got the job done. Day 4 (Friday) was the last but definitely not the least, not only bringing the teams to the brink of their wills (in the form of alcohol, and lots of it), but also having them visit our Katipunan neighbors in Ateneo, and taking over bars all over the surrounding areas. Day 4 also gave us the pre-Scav Hunt tasks, which were admirably performed by all three teams. And now, we get to the main event: Scavenger Hunt. Spanning the South all the way to the North, from Muntinlupa to Parañaque to Manila to Quezon City, Scav Hunt 2019 made like Game of Thrones and turned what was supposed to be 7 into 6. Only in our case, it was the 7 Deadly Sins that turned into the 6 Deadly Sins as a station was scrapped due to time constraints (check out our tweet about it!). In all all-out

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battle of gas-consuming, tiring and borderline socially psychotic dares, we ended at a familiar venue: Corinthian Hills Clubhouse (Coastal and EM Launch, anyone?), just in time for Vice Night. In the end, as the title says, BAMF walked away the champions, with EEE coming in 2nd place.

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As we near the ending to another schoolyear, on behalf of the entire Scav OB, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d like to say thank you for participating in this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Challenge Week and Scav Hunt. We hope you had as much fun playing as we did organizing. See you next year! (insert purple devil emoji).

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WHEREVER THE WIND BLOWS STEFF MENOR

Change can be a scary event for a person. One person may fret that the next person sitting in power may not agree to their beliefs and values. The incumbents could be worried that the people assuming their positions wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t do the same thing they have been doing or do something completely different. However, change is inevitable, no matter how one person would avoid it. Authorities have to come and go. The second semester contained many changes. Elections were happening for the University Student Council (USC) and the School of Economics Student Council. The elections for the USC were hectic times. Much campaigning was done for two weeks. Campaigning would require the candidates to go to different classes just to let their stances be known so that people could vote for them. The exhaust was seen amidst their smiles due to the act of juggling studies and their candidacy. Despite that, the grit and passion for serving the student body was the thing that drove them to smile amidst these challenges. Of course, the candidates wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be able to go into every classroom, and that was why there was a university-wide event called the Rundown. This event was an avenue where the candidates would show their stances on different issues about the university and nationwide. There were no independent candidates for the USC. All of them were from political parties. These parties were UP ALYANSA, KAISA

students voted, and the voters’ turnout was lower than the regular elections considering the time the special elections were held. The results also did not cause an uproar in the community. Maui Octaviano got 164 votes and 36 votes on abstain. Vina Mengua gathered 169 votes and 31 votes on abstain. Out of 64 students from their batch, Dylan Berdin got 60 votes while Pat del Rosario got 54 votes; three people voted for abstain. Both of them won as sophomore batch representatives. Ramon Tena got 21 votes and 15 votes on abstain. He didn’t get the position because he needed three more votes to win. As these new people assume their positions, the students hope that they would match their talk. For the USC, many questions were raised because many students do not feel their presence. On a smaller scale, engaging the UPSE community was the main issue. In the incoming school year, all of the students want to make the candidates whom they voted for make their talk match their actions as they assume their respective positions to make the university and School of Economics a more trustworthy place for everyone.

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themselves. The position for the Finance Councilor only had two candidates who had similar platforms that made it hard to decide the distinction between them. The voters’ turnout was very hopeful. 321 students of the UPSE community participated. It is also important to note that hardly any graduate students participated. This would show that the graduate students did not see the need of the council or that none of the candidates gave their platforms in their classes. For Josh Quimbo, he garnered 268 votes while 53 voted for abstain. Jaro Gaba garnered 173 votes versus Maui Octaviano with 95 votes; the vote for abstain reached 53 votes. Je Magpantay got 249 votes and 74 votes on abstain. Andi Panaguiton obtained 278 votes while 43 votes were for abstain. Altogether, the results of the elections did not cause an uproar in the community. There was a special election, however, because not all of the positions were filled. Five total candidates were running for Sophomore Batch Representatives (Dylan Berdin & Pat Del Rosario), Junior Batch Representative (Ramon Tena), Education and Research Councilor (Vina Mengua), and Marketing and Alumni Relations (Maui Octaviano). The time for campaigning was shorter because, at that time, everyone was busy with studies. The issue of engaging the students was one of the most frequent questions raised for the candidates, especially the batch representatives. Overall, they were able to defend their answers for the issues raised and made their stances clear. For the voting period, only 200 students voted. No graduate

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UP, and STAND UP. The heat between these parties was evident when the debate section came up. Whenever there was a chance for rebuttal, candidates from STAND UP were direct in giving questions that made the audience roar in approval. The audience was filled with people from STAND UP, and this was evident because of the cheers they gave whenever a candidate from the party was talking. The results were shocking for many people. Although the incoming USC councilors are dominantly from STAND UP, they must be able to work together amidst the differences with the other parties that they will work with. Meanwhile, weeks after the USC elections were the elections for the School of Economics Student Council. There were a lot of positions available for candidacy. During the regular elections, only five people ran for the position of Chairperson ( Josh Quimbo), EconRep to the USC ( Je Magpantay), Finance Councilor (Maui Octaviano & Jaro Gaba), and STRAW Councilor (Andi Panaguiton). The grit and passion again to serve the School of Economics community was seen in their platforms. In hopes of engaging the community more, their platforms gave a change to the usual events that the council usually plans. It was noted that the students of the School of Economics weren’t engaged with the council as much, and that was the main goal of the candidates who were running. Plans to help and make the students have a better environment was the primary advocacy of all the candidates. There wasn’t any competition among the candidates because they were running against

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T A H A N A N : A N E C O N W E E K C A R AVA N JULIAN SONGSONG

The UP Economics Society has always branded itself as an organization that commits itself to socio-civic duties through various forms of service. The organization consistently strives to mold its members into model citizens who devote themselves towards the betterment of society. Given that, last March 25, 2019, the UP Economics Society, in partnership with the Habitat for Humanity - UP Diliman Chapter, held Tahanan: An Econ Week Caravan. The Econ Week Caravan focused on transforming the lives of the residents of Bistekville 1 in Payatas, Quezon City, through adding new colors on their homes. Volunteers readied their hard hats and their outfits as they were sure to encounter splashes of paint. The volunteers, despite the hot and sticky weather, still strived to diligently brush and roll the paint to ensure that the vibrance of the colors were equal for the entire wall. And with the sweat dripping from the middle of their backs, came the smiles of the residents of Bistekville 1.

After hours of refurbishing the walls, giving it a touch of cream white and neon green, the volunteers were rewarded with bread, juice, and water. The quick meryenda was then proceeded by the awarding of certificates to the UP Economics Society. The volunteers left the place with fulfilled hearts, knowing that they were able to brighten the homes of the residents in Bistekville 1. There was a total of 26 volunteers during the Econ Week Caravan which were comprised mostly of the members of EcoSoc and some members of the different organizations based in Econ.

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APPS EXTERNALS PROJECT ISAY LINGAT

The Corinthian Hills clubhouse was bursting with fun and excitement on the 4th day of May 2019, as members of the UP Economics Society and their plus ones partied to their heartsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; content in Oasis: Sink or Swim, the neonthemed pool party which is the culmination of the application process of Batch K-app-amilya 61A. The free flowing cocktails, interactive games, good music, and no-holds-barred water balloon fight definitely made it a night to remember.

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Beyond being just a party, however, the event contributes to a greater cause, since all proceeds generated will be donated to the UP Ecosoc Scholarship Fund.

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UPFRONT 2019 B EA RAMIN and IVANA SANCHEZ

“Critical minds, shaping the nation” More than just a tagline, the UPFront Organizing Body sees this as a mission, a guiding light on how the event should be—an avenue for the students to develop critical thinking especially in choosing the next generation of student leaders who are to lead the next University Student Council. This year was not any different. UPFront remained true to this mission and has been even more fearless especially with the choice of issues and questions especially given everything that transpired over the course of this academic year. UPFront 2019 sparked the discussion on pertinent university and national issues - from the threats to campus 32

safety to concerns regarding the sovereignty of the country. The program started with the Fast Talk segment, whereas the candidates are to answer yes/ no depending on their stance on certain issues. This is then followed by the intense MiniDebate segment, which allowed the candidates to further explain their position on issues and at the same time question the credibility and the stand of other candidates. More than this, the said program also allowed the UP Community to bring about

their concerns through the Open Forum. Lastly, to cap off the event in a lighter tone, the Final Battle took place to clear off the unnecessary tension during the entirety of the program. Truth be told, organizing UPFront 2019: USC Elections Forum & Miting De Avance was a challenging feat. Nevertheless, it was an honor to create an environment in UP where professional discourse is evident. In the end, the UPFront Organizing Body hoped that the said event has served its purpose.

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F F E AT U R E S

The Hunt Lives On. Heat with Stephanie Shin. Battling Burnout. What Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Like To Be Cute When You Want To Be Hot. And It Was Lit.

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THE HUNT LIVES ON J OE R G E N C AM AR A

The Scav OB was something new to Ecosoc. Its self-explanatory purpose for the org was previously handled by Spev when that committee was still around, but Scav Hunt still had to happen and that’s why Scav OB came to be. I and the other members were mostly newbies to this kind of work because getting inspiration from making this event successful was not going to depend from other Ecosoc members. It had to take attention to detail, proper simulation, and simply good oversight. The thing is, it’s very hard to get input from someone who’s playing so we all just had to rely on our own creative juices to create what happened that entire week. It was certainly not an easy task to do. To make an event from scratch, something entirely new really pushed us to think on another level and perspective as if we were thinking of an entirely new sport. It was nights filled with discussing possible loopholes in our mechanics, revising, revising, and revising. In that cutthroat of a week, we simply just had to make sure that everyone was on track and people knew what they were doing. What’s so unique about this kind of event is that even though Scav is entirely an internals event, the oversight and officer management had to be stellar or else everything will crumble. There were times when we were not at our best, but we always came back twice as strong. It then makes me think of why people do so much for a competition that’s filled with dumb, crazy, funny, and disgusting things

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to do (there were also some that were hard and as fuck, shoutout to Alabang). Where do people get their competitiveness? What motivates them? It’s because of their pagkaagit that we were so pressured to make the entire week neatly executed all the way down to the nits and bits of everything. People suddenly create a different atmosphere around them that gets them ready to suddenly yell, fight, or let go of all their dignity just to get more points and win. Maybe it’s because they love the org, just wanna get to know other people better, or have fun. As the Scav OB, we always had to put these goals at the back of our minds because even though it was an extremely strenuous week for us, we had to do it for them. We were the ones creating opportunities for them to have memories and we didn’t want to ruin any of it just because we were messy.

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If there’s any fun in the entire ideation and execution of that week, it was imagining our members do all the stupid things they’d be willing to do. I have to say, thinking about them doing those things and actually seeing those things were very different. There were times where I was so taken aback, but most of them are actually just hilarious to watch. Just talking to the rest of the OB about the dumb or disgusting shit they’d do for points was our source of laughter for the entire week and it certainly inspired us to even push ourselves further in trying to bring out the most stupid, most intelligent, most hilarious, most disgusting, most ruthless things the people in this org can do.

A NG IN IT GAGO Photography by Jabby Aurelio

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H E AT W I T H STEPHANIE SHIN JAVI VILCHEZ I recently had the pleasure of interviewing one of Ecosoc’s most beloved members-- the colorfully charismatic Stephanie Shin. As the face of Echoes’ latest issue, Stephanie and I engaged in a unique and riveting conversation about heat, what heat means to her, and how heat is changing our world today. Javi: What do you think of when you hear the word “heat”? Stephanie: When I think of the word heat, I start to imagine mounds and mounds of endless sand like that of the dunes of found in Pagudpud (in Ilocos Norte). There would be lush tropical trees of different types lining up the sides. I imagine the sound of the sea as it meets the shores and how it lulls me to sleep, as I lay basking under the burning sun. The beach is all i think about as the heat from the summery days start to seep in. Getting a tan is surely something I need to do when that happens. Javi: So is heat a good thing or a bad thing? Stephanie: Heat is such an ambiguous term so asking whether its good or bad really depends. If you mean heat

produced by pollution and greenhouse gases then that’s pretty much a bad thing- a very bad thing. If you’re talking about Heat (the restaurant) from Edsa Shangrila then that’s pretty good. Getting just the right amount of heat from sunbathing is also good, for me, because when you’ve got a white ass from the yellow race, tropical color is a good look- or so I’ve been told. Heat by itself is neither good nor

bad, it just depends where you apply it. Just try not to apply it during arguments.

“I’m a hot m e s s …” Stephanie Shin on herself, 2019

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“ Ye s , w e m a y be a hot mess most times but at the end of the day we make it work b i g t i m e …” Stephanie Shin on Ecosoc, 2019

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Javi: What makes Ecosoc hot? Stephanie: Now this is a different story. Of course Ecosoc is located in the Philippines-which means it is also located near the equator. But this fact aside, I think it’s mostly because of the people. What makes ecosoc hot is the burning passion instilled in the members that continuously join this organization. There is no end to the spark ignited in the hearts of Ecosocers. Yes, we may be a hot mess most times but at the end of the day we make it work bigtime.

Javi: What makes the Philippines hot? Stephanie: Aside from the fact that it’s located near the equator? Well, I guess it’s also because of the standard of living here. Filipinos’ lifestyle majorly involve the use of disposable products. All would be rainbows and butterflies if we knew how to segregate--much less, throw our trash properly. But surprise-we don’t. Not to mention, how condensed it is in the cities partly due to the large population of people coming from provinces to seek livelihood. It is because of this that we add more ‘heat’ in this country. Heat in the Philippines is perpetual, I tell ya.

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Javi: Do you think you exemplify heat? Stephanie: Hmmmm, now this one is pretty tricky. If you’re asking whether or not I think I’m hot, that is up for a debate. But if you’re asking whether or not I feel hot then the answer is every single damn time. Sadly, I exemplify heat in the way that I’m always sweaty and not fresh-even if I’ve just come from a bath. I’m a hot mess means I was already a mess and then heat was applied so i became even messier (2015, Pitch Perfect). All in all, I think I’m a pretty heated person, whether it’s an argument or a sport or whether or not I feel cold easily during an Economics class.

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Javi: When is heat too much? Stephanie: Like the process of tanning, wherein exposure to UV rays can either be good or bad depending on how you regulate it, being heated about something is the same. Sunbathing within a measured amount of time is better than sunbathing until you feel the burn. One causes production of vitamin D while the other just straight-up causes cancer. In the same way, a passion done with ample rest is better than a passion practiced on and on until you burnout. Like i said, rest is crucial because it’s a given process within our bodies that cannot be terminated or swept aside. We are human after all and we can only take so much. So if the heat gets to be too much, distance yourself before you get scalded then continue again with blazing vigor until the next stop.

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Javi: What do you have to do to get heated? Stephanie: I’m just going to assume you are asking about something related to passion because again the word is ambiguous. Honestly, many people have this notion that it’s easy to find something that gets you heated. At times we find something we think will ignite the flames but in reality it just sparked some interest. Don’t fret though because even if you still don’t have the heat for something, in this day and age, it doesn’t mean you’ll never find it. There are also those who may be experiencing burnout,

like me, and that’s not so bad too. Either way, my biggest advice is to never forget to rest because to get heated up on something requires work and that work requires energy so rest well and take care of yourselves! EE CC H HO O EE SS

Javi: Is heat something just anyone can acquire? Stephanie: Well heat is an energy ever present in this world-- it is neither created nor destroyed so acquiring it should be relatively easy: just add friction into the equation. A bit of pressure and contact should be enough to spark some heat within you. Depends on you who or what you want to make contact with. Just don’t overdo it because, on some occasions, you might get burnt.

B AT T L I N G B U R N O U T HARVEY SANGA

What happened? That’s what you ask yourself whenever you look back on the times you felt like you could conquer the world. Nothing was ever too big of a challenge for you. To every opportunity presented to you, there wasn’t a “yes or no”, there was only “yes”. You did this not because you had no other choice. You weren’t forced to say yes. You weren’t sweet-talked into this either. You did this out of your own volition. Every “yes” came from no one else but you. Most of the time, you didn’t even have to think twice before saying yes. There were no ten second countdowns before making the decision. No This was despite the hassle saying yes would entail. It would mean extra work on top of your academics, even more sleepless nights, and restless weekends. None of that mattered to you. You had a certain sparkle in your eyes. It probably came from that fire you have inside of you, that drive you had to do things with your 100%. Your work ethic was astonishing. You met every hardship with a smile, no matter how big or small. That smile radiates and for some reason just makes every other person you meet smile as well. You were just… amazing. What happened? Nowadays, you’d find yourself nowadays sleeping through all the things you have to do. You find yourself being unresponsive to the heck load of messages piling up in your messenger feed. You try your best to hide from the people who would now persistently nag you about your deadlines. You know you have stuff to do, but you keep on saying that you’ll do it later. You end up not doing it at all. You just want to stay away from everything, to disappear, to be part of that “lucky” half of the population Thanos turned to ashes. You’re probably burnt out. At this moment in time, you sort of became a match stick. Why? Your glow was intense during the first few moments then your light gradually faded away until you were nothing more than a burnt piece of wood.

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What’s next for you? Is there even a “next” for you? What good can a brittle, burnt out little match stick even offer? Well luckily for you, you’re not a match stick. You’re human. You work, you get tired, you get exhausted, and you get burnt out, but you can also rest and regain whatever sparkle you had in your eyes before. The process may be slow, but you’ll get there. Promise. Take as much time as you need. Rest until that smile comes back. Look at the bright side, at least you now know your breaking points. You have a better idea of how to gauge yourself. With this, you’ll be prepared for so much more. You never know what good a little bit of rest might bring you. It wouldn’t hurt too much to say “no” if it’ll help you become better off in the long run. Don’t sweat it too much. Don’t rush. You were already amazing before, but that’s not yet everything that you have to offer. You’ve done great things but you can and will do even greater things.

Image Source: Reddit

W H AT I T ’ S L I K E T O B E C U T E W H E N YO U WA N T T 0 B E H O T

It is a bit hard to be cute because you feel jealous of those people being talked about constantly because of how hot they are. You eventually aspire to be like them, but you fall short or just give up eventually. But if you look at it at a deeper level, honestly, it is ok to be cute. Being cute gives you a higher chance of being with someone who actually likes you for who you are. This is because not everyone wants you, unlike hot people, who are constantly disturbed by different kinds of people. Some people may like this better, so it really depends on you. So it is honestly not worth being bummed out if you are cute because you will get there too, and at least you’re something right? Everyone has their own strengths and just focus on getting better everyday. I want to be hot, but that takes a lot of discipline and hard work. If you’re up for it, then go for it! I’m quite lazy to start so I think I’ll stick to cute for now. After all, would you sleep with a hot action figure over a soft and cute stuffed toy? :>

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Who doesn’t want to be hot? After Avengers: Endgame showed, my timeline was flooded with hot people like Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth. This happens almost all the time, from Riverdale’s Cole Sprouse and Spiderman’s Tom Holland. People rave and share about hot people, but cute people are often just low key appreciated or ignored altogether. Cuties are talked about occasionally while hotties are the trend in conversations. In school, people talk about the hottest person in the batch, not the cutest one. There must be something about hot people that cute people don’t offer. Is it because cute people only have the face while hot people have it all? Or is it also the personality that defines someone as “cute” or “hot”?

FRANZ CRUZ

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Being cute or hot in someone’s perspective varies from one person to another. You may be cute to someone, but hot to another, or neither for another person. If you’re lucky, you’re both cute and hot, but not everyone is as lucky. In this article, I will consider myself cute just to point my opinions regarding the topic hehe.

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A N D I T WA S L I T Prior to Litnight, there was only one way I’d shown my creative side - drawing. People knew it was something I liked doing, and half of the time it was how I’d make friends. I would be off at a table by myself sketching something in my notebook, someone would give me a compliment, one thing would lead to another and the next thing I knew I’d surrounded myself with a small and cozy group of people. I subscribed to that stereotype of the introvert being adopted by an extrovert, and it’s something I still find 48

myself

subscribing

now.

It was only that handful of friends that knew I liked writing. There was the occasional cringe-inducing fan fiction, the thought-provoking spoken words and poetry, and even a mini-parody of a Shakespeare play performed in the theater in front of the whole school. The same could actually be said for my other creative outlet music. The much smaller group of my family were the only ones who witnessed this side of

me, from when I’d sometimes play guitar when stressed or perform something in front of family friends at some party. When I began college, I figured that these sides of me were something I wouldn’t share too much with anyone else. I liked keeping my life that way. It was something akin to a game where you’d need to be at a certain level to unlock a certain back story, or a ride where you’d need to reach a certain height to take it.

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MIA CRUZ Litnight pretty much threw that plan out of the window, but I don’t regret it doing so. I didn’t like showing the writing side or the musical side. They were things I mainly kept in the dark because I didn’t think I was good enough at doing them. I viewed myself as average. And I thought, why would someone as average as me deserve to bare herself in front of everyone else? So during my first Litnight, I played it safe. I used another’s words, a series of humorous memes,

to share what it is I thought. And there were two things that night taught me - that there is a certain talent in pulling something like that off, and that family could be found in places where you least expect them. The second Litnight was no less of a meaningful experience either. I wasn’t able to write anything at first and it made me afraid to perform again. But I was allowing myself the chance to improve my skills that sem when I joined a music org on the side, and that was something

that drove me to sing and play something. I may have still used someone else’s words to express myself, but there was something more important that Litnight taught me - I didn’t have to be the best at what I did, because what mattered most was I did my best and enjoyed doing it. And the most important lesson - my skills and the things I loved doing weren’t something that should’ve been kept in the dark. I broke out of my shell those nights, and it was lit.

C C U LT U R E

How Many Memes Have I Got? A Lot. Chasing Clouds: Smoking Vs. Vaping. Pablo Pascual: The Failed Godofredo’s Experiment. The Hottest Ecosocer. The Coolest Ecosocer. Make No Misteak. Cursed Images: Explained. Godofredo’s Picks. Tweetable Tweets.

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H O W M A N Y M E M E S H AV E I G O T ? A L O T ANDREW BANAAG

Gone is the year 2018, but its memes will never be forgotten. From Bibble from Barbie singing, to questioning whether that was a pigeon or not, and to LeBron helplessly motioning J.R. Smith to pass the ball with Playoffs literally on the line, 2019 has but only the biggest of roles to fill in both our (messed up) minds and hearts. But fear not, for despite it having been only FIVE MONTHS into the year, our timelines and phone storages have already been filled to the brim with memes! However, due to multiple constraints (content length-wise and the capabilities of my mind at the time of this writing), I’ll only be mentioning a select few which I believe have been the “hottest” memes of the year (so far).

AVENGE THE FALLEN Many months ago, many of us could barely wait for what may be Marvel’s best MCU movie to date: Avengers: Endgame. If you owned a social media account during the days leading up to its premier (which I think most of you did… if you didn’t please don’t talk to me), you probably would have noticed the massive hype surrounding the film. However, the Internet being the Internet, and despite this being the most talked film on Twitter ever (I’ll attach a source somewhere), Endgame was not immune to memeification. EE CC H HO O EE SS || AA // M M

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If you’ve been on Twitter long enough, you probably would have noticed that the social media platform has changed throughout its lifetime. Five years ago, Twitter was literally a place for anyone and everyone to let their followers know that they were taking a shower or eating breakfast. Nowadays, Twitter has become a borderline toxic platform where people tweet fake news for clout and where callout culture is extremely rampant. There is, however, sunshine in all this shade (see what I did there), as Twitter these days has also recently become a haven of memes galore. In recent times, the most prominent of memes has been threads of celebrities as literal things. These things can be anything from lamps to lighters to lightbulbs. Twitter’s imagination has apparently no limit, but for that I am extremely grateful.

CHOKING SASUKE This meme has also surfaced most prominently on the Twitterverse, and for what reason? I honestly have no idea. The anime Naruto has been popular amongst the masses for the longest time, and has also recently resurfaced for (apparently?) this reason. The meme is composed of one half of the picture Sasuke being choked, while the other half is composed of literally just about anything that looks just about it’s in the motion of choking Sasuke.

J.K. ROWLING TWEETS Everybody loves the Harry Potter series, and it’s also common knowledge that the writer, J.K. Rowling, is an avid user of Twitter. Just like your ordinary millionaire lurking about the Twitterverse, not many of her tweets would catch immediate attention. However, one day, the Pottermore Twitter account decided to tweet a hilarious fact about the Potterverse, and the memes but only ensued.

MA’AM

THIS IS A WENDY’S

These are but only four categories of memes that have popped in the last five months or so in 2019, but if I were only a search machine and could instantly provide you all with a million or so more memes, I really and truly would, because you all really deserve a good laugh. Although memes may not have any actual monetary or moral value to then (but God I wish they did), they do serve the purpose of entertaining the human being despite the bumps and rough patches that life inevitably throws at you. Social media too in recent months has been quite depressing, but I think the Internet is never short on its creative clowns and jolly jokers who look past the bad stuff and instead laugh about it. To this, we can only pray that the memes never end, because if they do, then what’s the point of it all?

NICE D AY

co ur te s y o f ISAAC MAGPAN TAY

hi guys i am avin raiel abelardo and AVIN waiting to tell you guys (wow im so funny hahaha) that this day has been very difficult for all of us. The Math 21 LE was so hard. However, i hope that we dont get disheartened and start doubting our own abilities. Bawi at lalaban muli!

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hi i am boss allen grace galaura back at it again! i wanna grace y’all (wow im so witty hahaha) with some news about my day so far. i am currently studying for my accounting exam on monday. i hope i can get a perfect score. not a low score, not a high score, but a mistakeless one

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hi i am vina naomi! i want to tell you all that i am having a nice day. i was able to understand math 21 quite nicely as i was taught by a nice and wise teacher. so yeah that’s nice. i hope you guys may also have a nice day like me.

hi guys i am cielo verzosa and i wanna share w/ u guys today my very nice day. we painted houses today i felt like bob ross hahaha im such an artist i hope i can paint smiles in people’s faces the way i painted those homes. it was very nice. the nice that is just nice.

hi its me again vina naomi back with some updates with my day. i am having a very nice dinner with my friends and batchmates. our food is very nice and the kwentuhan is also very nice. i hope i can have more nice days like this. not bad, not good, but just nice!

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hi i am kyla balita. i just wanna balita to y’all (wow im so witty) that today is a very nice day. im having a nice day and i hope that you guys can also have a nice day. not a bad day not a super good day but a just nice day. my nice day is very nice to know indeed. niceeee

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CHASING CLOUDS: S M O K I N G V S . VA P I N G STEPH SHIN

Smoking has long since been a part of human affairs- it’s ancient. During the early stages of civilization, burning of tobacco and other hallucinogenic drugs were used in performing shamanistic rituals. Later on, even the Catholic and Orthodox Churches made use of this method when they burn incense. Having been first discovered in Mesoamerica during their pre-classic period, tobacco use slowly spread its influence throughout the entire world. Now, it is estimated that over 1.1 billion people around the globe take to smoking. Over the decades, smoking tobacco slowly shifted from being used in rituals to being used as a profit generating commodity that is mass produced, packaged in bundles, and ready to be bought by any consumer who has developed the habit of inhaling substances that give immediate yet short-lived pleasure. Not to mention that technological advancement has also paved the way for alternatives to smoking tobacco. Vaping is, if not, one of the most common options used to ingest nicotine in modern times. Now, we all know that smoking never did anyone any good yet billions of individuals can’t seem to stop and multiple manufacturers will choose to forgo this moral dilemma. Vaping, the alternative, is not a 100% safe either. This makes all of us, especially those who actively smoke, question what would be a better pick, smoking or vaping? This is exactly what this article is for and I have chosen to narrow down the comparing and contrasting of these two methods into two sections. First: The health and safety risks it poses. Whether it be smoking or vaping, both of these processes entail some very serious health implications and since smoking has

been around for much longer than vaping has, searching up its risks would be easier and more defined because people have had more time to dissect and study all about it. The act of smoking tobacco makes use of combustion and this in itself is the main reason there are many risks surrounding it. Burning at a temperature that high causes thousands of chemical reactions that have byproducts we inhale which lead to cancer, heart diseases, and lung diseases. These 20+ byproducts are collectively called carcinogens. Nicotine is a carcinogen and the main cause for addiction in smoking. On the other hand, the act of vaping deals with the absence of combustion and tobacco. Instead, it makes use of the process of heating liquids at a temperature that is enough to turn it into vapor and is then inhaled by the user. The liquid or “juice”, as most people refer to it, is made of nicotine mixed with food grade chemicals for flavoring but this doesn’t mean that the vapor inhaled is totally free from carcinogens- there still are albeit less compared to smoking.

Talking about convenience, many people like vaping because of its flexibility to preference. It comes in various flavors and doses so everyone is able to adjust their juices to their taste and their nicotine hits to their tolerance. Also, people tend to like vaping more because despite producing too much smoke, they smell better than regular cigarette fumes. On the other hand, many also tend to find cigarettes more convenient because

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Old people tend to smoke cigarettes more because vaping is something they aren’t used to. Having only been recently invented, vaping is more commonly viewed as a young adult activity and since it also dabbles with technology the oldies would rather the good old pack of 20. Some people choose to smoke cigarettes because of the “taste”. In my opinion, tobacco is an acquired taste that once you get used to, it’s hard to change. There are those who jump ship and switch to vaping in order to experience a “healthier” way of smoking but many of them ultimately come back to cigarettes after a while.

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Second: The cost and convenience it entails. Prices play a big role when it comes to choosing between the two. With vaping usually having a much higher initial cost due to the hardware needed it is often viewed as more expensive, but that isn’t the only case. It also heavily depends how much a person smokes on the average. Let’s say an average smoker consumes 5 packs a week. In the Philippines, a pack would cost about 100 pesos so that person spends 500 pesos a week, 2,000 pesos a month, and 26,000 pesos a year all for cigarettes only. Purchasing a good quality vape starter kit will cost an average of 3,000 pesos and buying a 100ml bottle of quality juice that will last a strong user about a week will cost around 250 pesos which translates to 1,000 pesos a month and 12,000 pesos a year.

they are easier to pick, buy, carry, and consume unlike e-cigarettes that require you carry your kit around in case you need more juice or have to change the coils However recently, companies have produced vape pods in order to combat this struggle. They are made smaller and more portable as compared to the bigger units.

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When it comes to safety, cigarettes used to pose a great hazard, having been reported to cause major fires in households due to its combustibility. At present, they have upgraded cigarettes to be more fire-safe. Compared to smoking, vaping also has its fair share of dangers. Since it makes use of electronic gadgets, explosions can be expected to happen and they did. Upon the release of the e-cigarettes in 2007, there had been a records of 243 explosions, all of which happened either in use, while charging, or during deliveries. Studies also mention that second hand smoking from cigarettes is much more dangerous compared to second hand smoking from vape.

In a nutshell, whether you smoke or you vape really depends on your discretion. One may seem better than the other but neither really achieves the endgame we all want or needto stop smoking. Like what was said at the start, smoking didn’t do anybody any good so if you don’t smoke, best not to.

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PA B LO PA S C UA L : T H E FA I L E D G O D O F R E D O ’ S EXPERIMENT M EIR A D E LU NA

Around early April, I made Pablo Pascual and gave the login credentials to Godofredo’s , a public account as a gift from me to them. I was quite hurt and sad when nobody used it, and when a few suspected that I was trolling or playing a bizarre prank on them. Rest assured, I was not playing a prank. What I was trying to do, was to recreate an experiment. Yikes, not another social experiment, Meira.

THE RATIONALE Last 2015, writer and artist Joe Veix tweeted the login details of a Facebook account. He got the inspiration to conduct the experiment when someone attempted to hack an email address that he made for setting up a novelty social media account. It was this incident that led him to question the notions of account security and individualistic assumptions of social media. “Does a Facebook profile truly present a person?[...] No , of course not, that’s ridiculous. But then I was curious to see what an account might look like if it were communal -- what would be different about it?” And thus, John Smith was knighted by the people as Maximillien Manning.

“Max” changed profile pictures and cover photos so frequently that it would put college DP and Cover blasts to utter shame. “Max” added a lot of friends, liked whatever they posted, listed various jobs in various places like Uber and Taco Bell, and switched locations constantly. “Max” liked an endless list of pages including but not limited to wedding planning pages, communist pages, pet crematoriums, niche meme pages (Economic memes for utility maximizing teens anyone?), and Elmer’s Glue. Whatever “Max” did, he/she/they did a lot of it. 58

“Max” wasn’t just a passive user that only added friends, liked a lot of things, and changed biography details nonstop. He/she/ they pretended to be a Taco Bell Customer Representative (at least one person fell for it), reviewed the ISIS Facebook page (“nice place, weather was nice, people were friendly, goats were sexy, 10/10 would recommend), and my all-time favorite: announced his/her/their baby with Joe Veix. Sadly, as with all things, Maximillien Manning’s time reached its end, and the account was deleted. Several attempts to recreate the account were made, but it didn’t have the same communal effect as it had before.

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So, what happened? How come Maximillien Manning managed to leave an online legacy, yet Pablo Pascual fades into obscurity? Did something go wrong? What was different?

FOR WE ARE MANY

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In any experiment, one has to look at the variables that differ. For Maximillien Manning, his scope eoncompassed possiby an international online community that Joe Veix couldn’t just possibly keep track of. For Pablo Pascual, it was just whoever was a member of Godofredo’s. What makes this interesting is that Veix encountered complete strangers when he set up the account. Sure, some of his friends may have been involved too, but strangers were attracted to Maximillien Manning nonetheless. Pablo Pascual was introduced to a college organization, and yet not once was his account touched. How come? Well, it could be a lot of things. For one, we are dealing with a very specific community, not a complete international, interweb free-for-all. Perhaps diversity was lacking. Another thing could be that I was so vague with the introduction that people were simply too intimidated to use the account. Maybe people didn’t really care or didn’t have the time to dabble with Pablo Pascual. Even as simple as reason that the post simply just drowned in the group without being able to reach a large enough number of people could be possible. As much as speculation goes, this was a casual experiment, not a thesis to defend. (If ever this was a thesis, I would have been grilled from hell to back.)Though the attention on him was short-lived, (fuck, it didn’t even get to live, poor bastard), Pablo Pascual remains immortalized on Facebook, along with the other idle Facebook accounts of dead people that their loved ones don’t bother or can’t bear to delete.

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BY Those who know me may begin to question the validity of this article for the following reasons: I have HORRIBLE taste (in men specifically); If not horrible, I have questionable taste in the people I find attractive; and My daddy issues impede me from making wise and nondesperation-based decisions. I’ll be the first to admit that, yes, my choices are unconventional. But to be fair, I do know a thing or two about the quality of “hotness”. This isn’t to say that I have said quality (a quick look at any of my profile pictures will make you realize why). This simply means that despite the fact that I get turned on by the weirdest of things, I know what separates being actually hot and not just being attractive in my book. Just a disclaimer before we even begin (got to be careful -- we don’t want no callouts!). Here in Ecosoc, we celebrate all kinds of beauty. I feel so unworthy naming who’s “hot” or not (well, duh), so I urge you all not to take this article too seriously. If your name isn’t mentioned, that doesn’t mean you’re not hot -- that just means I must have passed my word count limit. After all, you’re all hot in your own right :p

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THE HOT TE ST When you think of hot Ecosocers, the usual people probably come to mind: Pags, Kim D, Jose, Benju, Bets etc. -- those beautiful faces (and bodies) you encounter while walking through the Econ hallways or when tambay-ing at the back. Thinking about it, Ecosoc does have a couple of conventionally hot people in our roster. The usual gym buffs, of course have to be on the list -- Bisuna, MJ, Alei, JV etc. -- with their chiseled bodies, strong auras and just overall hotness. But we also got to give props to the Ecosocers who have totally stormed their way to hotness over the years a.k.a. the glow-ups of the century. Observe the amazing transformations of the likes of Bianca P with her Perigon realness and Dave with his consistent gyming and glowing skin. We expect that they’ll just get hotter and hotter in the coming months -- a sight we’re all excited to see. And as for the freshies? They have their own fair share of hotties over there. Gabie, Isabel and Kelly, just to name a few, but they’re still a young batch. Write this article again in a year or two, and probably half of the content here will just be talking about their batch. But as I said before, I feel so unworthy listing down names of who’s hot when being “hot” is so difficult to measure. Again, here in Ecosoc, we really do celebrate all types of beauty. Before, I would never imagine taking my shirt off for a swim. But last Plansem, I finally had the courage to do so despite being unconventionally un-hot I am. More than anything, to anyone who might be reading this, it’s okay to be who you are. You are hot. Trust

me;

know

what

I’m

saying.

ECOSOCER

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BY What does one with the word

mean “cool”?

When I was younger, I used to have this image of a cool guy: slick, black hair, dark-as-night shades, a cigarette burning with the smell of cancer, a leather jacket with thatched jeans.Then as I got older, I realized I was describing a fetish, not a person.

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But here, we break boundaries and expectations. It’s amazing to see that every single Ecosocer has something to bring to the table -- a hidden talent, a natural intellect, a kind heart -- all those tell us that the uniqueness borne into every single person is the coolness we are looking for. That the individuality of every single person who has help become a part of this organization has made the search for the “Coolest Ecosocer” very difficult -- in the best-est of ways.

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Maybe it’s the fact that the people in Ecosoc all have different takes on the quality of coolness that makes it difficult to point out one single person for this title. Personally, I find those with the best work ethic, who can balance work and play with the utmost of elegance and efficacy, the coolest. “Yung tipong Monday to Thrusday nagtra-trabaho

Some might even find that the hottest ones are the coolest ones as well. I wouldn’t be surprised. For a long, long time, it’s always been a trope that the hot people are the cool one as well. And it shows -- when you’re hot, you exude confidence, and that confidence brings about the coolness people typically associate with.

Rather than point out specific people like I did in the Hottest Ecosocer article, maybe it’s best I just talk about how the people in Ecosoc are so damn cool (and also because I am on a tight schedule as I’m writing this being 40 minutes from the due date).

at nagaaral pero kapag Friday makikita mong nakahandusay na sa sahig ng Esteban Abada.

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I guess being a cool person is kind of harder to distinguish, especially now that the subject of coolness is so easily abstracted. So with that being said, and in the spirit of not offending anyone, I can truly say there are quite a lot, if not all, of cool Ecosocers.

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So here’s to those whose taste in music far exceeds others; here’s to those who memorize every single line-up of the Boston celtics from every single year; here’s to those whose GWA I can only hope to achieve; here’s to those whose heart is set on the kids of ACDC; here’s to those whose skills in creatives are graphic designer-levels (we appreciate you all, I hope you know that -- and if you don’t, we’ll change that); here’s to those whose spirit is in the service of the people; here’s to those whose life is for another. Here’s to you, Ecosoc. You cool guy with the slick, black hair, dark-as-night shades, a cigarette burning with the smell of cancer, and a leather jacket with thatched jeans.

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CRU STEAKHOUSE AT MARRIOT HOTEL

Steak is one of the simplest but most difficult dishes to cook and perfect. Each steak is made to the consumer’s taste and preference; rare, medium-rare, medium, medium-well, or well done. However, the best way to enjoy your steak is to have it cooked medium-rare. That beautiful charred finish with a juicy pink center. Now, where do you go to get your steak fix?

Cru has been our staple for years now. My father actually has a gold reservation plaque with his name on it and the employees there know us because of how frequent we go there. We’ve had many parties in that place and my father always holds his meetings there. I haven’t had a steak that didn’t satisfy me in Cru, and each steak comes with two side dishes. My favorite is the Truffle Mushroom Risotto. The appetizers are also great by the way; and the soups are delicious. Ambience-wise, it’s formal and definitely date-worthy.

I’m personally very picky when it comes to food. Anyone who knows me knows how often my family and I eat out and so my standards are quite high. Below is a list of a few steakhouses that we’ve been to more than once (that means something in our home). Maybe there are other places that could be on my list but i haven’t been everywhere yet because we keep coming back to these. ** I think I ordered the Tenderloin with Creamed Spinach and Truffle Risotto along with one of their special cocktails and a glass of red wine **

MAKE NO MISTEAK SA B GO

SAGE BESPOKE GRILL AT MAKATI SHANG

RAGING BULL CHOPHOUSE AT FORT SHANG

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**probably the special

a Tenderloin with jars of seasoning

Sage and Raging Bull are both in different Shang’s, and they’re both on equal footing for me. Great steaks and they’re cheaper than Cru. Side dishes weren’t as good though but still okay! They’re more budget friendly with the quality still intact, and they’re much nearer too. What’s interesting about Sage though is that they have a variety of seasonings to choose from. They have little jars of special

probably ordered a Tenderloin (do you see a trend here) but i got it with Foie Gras this time

salts and sauces that you can put on your steak to enhance its flavor. Fortunately, there’s also an amazing DIY version we have at home when we can’t go out. Steaks from Santi’s Delicatessen are great when you’re just looking at a chill time at home with a glass of wine. Sometimes we also have a crate of Kobe beef shipped in from Kobe, Japan and if you can find a supplier,

you will feel like you’re in the land of the rising sun, while experiencing rising high blood pressure. Special mention to Wolfgang’s because it’s so popular but when we ate there when in opened, the food was so underwhelming for the price we paid. So maybe we’ll try it in the far future again but for now, it is way out of my list.

C U R S E D I M AG E S : E X P L A I N E D JEM GEMZONTAN

On October 28 on the year 2015, a tumblr account called CursedImages posted the first recorded cursed image onto the internet. The image consisted of an elderly man surrounded by shitton of tomatoes. Why is it a cursed image, you ask? Well honestly, I really don’t know. Cursed images are the kind of photos that leave you with a general uneasy feeling. They are

the kind of images that find a way to draw your attention, keep it there and then suddenly leave you feeling blank for an even longer period of time. It leaves you wondering why exactly this photo would elicit such a response. Was it because of the sheer number of tomatoes? Or maybe it was the way the photo was set up? Evidently, we will never be able to pinpoint what exactly qualified the aforementioned

image as a Cursed Image. What we do know is that it is what it is, and since then the movement has really taken off. Now, we have seen an influx of images being coined as “Cursed Image no. xxxxxx” left and right. Oftentimes, these images make absolutely no sense to us. All they do is leave us bamboozled and confused. They make us ask “what the fuck is going on with this picture?”.

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Each of these photos leave us wondering the who, what, when, where, and most especially the why of the circumstances.

Why is the one girl on the lower left hand corner watching two animals on her screen?

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Who the fuck is this mammoth of a man?

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Cursed Images, at their core, enable us to dig deep into our imagination and creativity to answer the very questions they elicit because we sure as hell aren’t getting answers from the people who comprise the photo or the ones who took them. Beyond this, we will never truly know why the people who chose to submit these photos did so. All that we will know is that they did what they did, submitted what they submitted and that each and every one of these photos will yield the expected “what the fuck?” that they deserve. Except, of course, for the Cursed Images of Ecosoc because that shit is just nasty.

And where is this costume an actual thing? 67

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GODOFREDOâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S PICK G o o d Kid , m. A . A .d C i t y : A n A l bum Ret ro s p ect w ritten by L A M AN LAN GIT

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If you haven’t listened to the album, here is a condensed retelling of its story arc, chronologically ordered by yours truly, mixed with the tracks in the album in which said events occur, for your reading pleasure. The story is set in Compton, where a 16 year old Kendrick endures peer pressure from his friends to drink, break the law and smoke weed. He then unleashes his hormone fueled, adolescent urges in the form of a freestyle (Backseat Freestyle). Eventually, against his mother’s wishes, he robs a house with his friends, but they find out that they mistimed the robbery and the homeowners are actually inside the house. They make a run for it, and manage to get away (The Art of Peer Pressure). Kendrick then reflects on how

society really does view money as the beall, end-all of life (Money Trees). The gang stops and separates to avoid drawing more attention, and Kendrick makes his way back home to borrow his mom’s car to make his way to his girlfriend Sherane’s house, which is all the way in a rival gang’s territory. He reminisces about Sherane (Sherane a.k.a. Master Splinter’s Daughter, Poetic Justice), before getting to the house and finding two guys in hoodies waiting for him outside. They realize Kendrick is not from this side of town, and they pull him out of his car and kick his ass. This ass-kicking triggers Kendrick, as he flashes back to his traumatic childhood, and recounts his past (good kid, m.A.A.d. city). His friends suggest getting drunk to get over the beat down (Swimming Pools), but they end up getting into a shootout, and one of Kendrick’s friends is killed in the process. He then laments his friend’s death while once more condemning the violence that has plagued Compton (Sing About Me, I’m Dying of Thirst). Afterwards, Kendrick gets serious sets himself on the path he took to get to where he is now (Real). To cap off the story, perspectives then shift to present-day Kendrick, where he surveys the current landscape of rap, and how he strives to distinguish himself from other rappers through his vivid retelling of his story (Bitch Don’t Kill My Vibe, Compton). Granted, a lot of artists have told stories through their albums over the years, but it’s the way Kendrick incorporates the story into the tracks while still being able to make them appealing to the casual listener that really distinguishes this album from the rest.

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Whenever someone asks the question “Who’s the best rapper in the world right now?”, the most widely accepted answer is Kendrick Lamar (though some people would answer J. Cole, and I totally understand that). When the conversation shifts to Kendrick’s best album to date, the undeniable answer is 2015’s To Pimp a Butterfly, Kendrick’s third studio album. Don’t get me wrong, I do love TPAB. Somehow, Kendrick managed to blend socially relevant issues such as racism, police brutality and inequality with jazzy beats, catchy choruses and well-placed rhymes and bars to produce a masterpiece that absolutely pushed the bounds of what modern rap is. But, Good Kid, M.A.A.D City, released in 2012, comes in at a very, very close second, and deserves so much more love than it currently commands. Some people might even say it’s better than TPAB. (*cue hip-hop lovers raising torches and pitchforks ready to burn me at the stake*). I recently revived my love for this album due to it being the subject of my final paper requirement of an English elective that I took last semester, so allow me to share this revived love with you.

Now, stop reading right here. Go ahead and listen to the album in full, then come back to me. Good? Done? Great. If you’ve listened to this album in full, I really don’t have to tell you about the pure

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quality that exudes and manifests in every single track. But it’s so good that it feels like an injustice not to mention. Certain tracks on TPAB can get so abstract that you would feel uncomfortable placing some tracks on your Spotify rap playlists. GKMC doesn’t have that problem (or at the very least, has it occurring less frequently); every piece of the story is concealed in music that is easily appreciated, so much that you almost forget that there’s a story behind all these well-written rhymes and lyrics. Although it doesn’t have the jazz-funk undertone that TPAB boasts, it doesn’t really need it. GKMC is an ode to West Coast Rap, stalwarts of which include the NWA and Tupac, who dominated the hip-hop scene in the 1990s (the time frame in which the album’s story takes place). It may be one dimensional, but hell, that dimension sounded amazing. Maybe I’m biased because this is the album that rekindled my love for hiphop after Kanye’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Maybe I haven’t given TPAB enough listens to really appreciate its greatness. Maybe I’m still pissed that Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’ The Heist beat this album for Best Rap Album a few years ago. Nevertheless, that still doesn’t take away from this gem of a hip-hop album. Yes, TPAB is the better album I’ll admit, and you could say that Kendrick has matured as a rapper and learned to mesh different styles since he released GKMC, but let’s just settle down and give GKMC the love it deserves. It deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as TPAB when talking about Kendrick’s best album. It deserves to be known as a modern day hip-hop classic. I love this album so much, and I hope you do too.

T W E E TA B L E T W E E T S

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