SPECIAL ONLINE ISSUE
www.thelightpub.tumblr.com
SEPTEMBER 2010
A closer look on USePians semestral vibes
FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK
THE LIGHT EDITORIAL STAFF EDITOR IN CHIEF ASSOCIATE EDITOR MANAGING EDITOR NEWS EDITOR FEATURES EDITOR SPORTS EDITOR
Erwin Fuentes Jezza Meh Maghamil Shany Lou Gamas Rhodora Joy Lumanog Bayani Escoton Ryan Abenoja
SENIOR WRITERS Donald Babiano Katrina Recabo Robin Labra JUNIOR WRITERS Louie Bryan Lapat Junard Duterte Khif Miranda Herdin Cutab Felix Rey Largo ILLUSTRATORS Llover Yap Tito Rubillos Nuriel Nebres PHOTOJOURNALIST Gretchen Juit LAYOUT ARTISTS Louie Bryan M. Lapat Llover Yap ADVISER Miss Donna Magallanes
CONTENTS
ABOUT THE COVER The cover depicts students reading the Tok ob da Kampus which exposes the dark sides of the SSC financial fiasco. Digital Art by Louie Bryan Lapat
Fatally Dangerous Let me tell you where I am today. I’m pounding keys in front of an obsolete computer monitor, amidst a sea of blue on the interior’s wall, in a building painted with baby pink. They call this place Computer Lab, where obsolete computer sets adorn its space and students murmur on the internet connection’s very, very slow connectivity. Across an aisle, students are chatting and shouting. Some are smiling, some are not. It’s barely three o’clock, three hours to go before the sun would kiss the western skies.
I would like to tell you what I am doing as I hit the keyboard, but I am too tired for that. It’s Midterms today—the campus is so silent and the students are studying bloody just to hit the tip of the iceberg. But the idea of facing this flickering screen with a very, very – dare I say it—slow connectivity adds to it. I call this the day the Blue Day. Aside from the fact that my best friend snobbed me today, I think it has always been the mindset whenever I set foot in this Blue Room. Network Timeout will be the most annoying phrase one would probably encounter here which will result to 48 years of slow connectivity. No network connection will kill student’s patience in a wink of an eye and long before anyone could access a web page, the time ticks and your time allotment shortens. And because every student pays for the internet fees, every single penny is also wasted. That is what it takes in a university aiming to be a premier state university in the ASEAN Region. In an institution so proud of its students who survived the elimination of the unfit, this dilemma could be the last nail to seal the coffin of that illusion. I mean vision. Contentment could be the name of the game but majority of us aren’t satisfied. How could you be so naïve? Thirty minutes ago, to the students’ surprise, new sets of computer arrived. Whoa, brand new, with flat screens
but bulky CPUs. This could be synonymous in pressing F5 on the keyboard: refreshing. But is it? I would like to believe otherwise. It could be a welcome development, but it’s just a microcosm representing the same old crux. While this signals a new start, the students look forward to the day where connectivity strikes fast as a lightning. These are postscripts to madness and craziness. I’m still here today and by the absence of a choice, I’ll still be here until my semester’s allotment expires. It’s the only choice we’ve got and while this prevails, we’re reminded of a simple truth: patience is a virtue. But sometimes, the truth hurts. J I would like to believe that this will soon pass and I look forward to the day of writing a positive story next issue and for the blue day to turn red, and for the lead of this story to read this way: Let me tell you where I am today. I’m pounding keys in front of a very cool computer monitor, amidst a sea of blue on the interior’s wall, in a building painted with baby pink. They call this place Computer Lab, where hightech computers adorn its space and students are jubilating on the internet connection’s very, very fast and thirst-quenching connectivity. You and I hope this won’t fall to deaf ears.
*to the murmuring cute girl in ponytail across an aisle to where I sit as I’m writing this, this is for you. This also goes out to the obvious and to the students who are able to download torrents, and to those who can access facebook which contributes to my and other’s blue days.