Significant purpose Student participation in addressing school matters has has always been required in our country's educational system. To comply with the need of student’s participation, a government made up of student leaders meant to represent the opinions of the whole body of students of the school was conceptualized. This has been the main purpose of the student government ever since. Leaders elected by the students lead handling issues within the school. them, are looked upon, and serve as role From the traits of the student governmodels. These are the traits that make the ment in general to the involvement of the student government significant to the student body in electing authorities; all of school system. them are significant as they are. SignifiStudent government elections with the cant in a way that one would be lost and students voting for the candidates who pointless without the other; significant in a they think are responsible enough further way that everyone will be better off with emphasizes student participation in the these things. issues of the school. These students, as a While the existence of such revolutionwhole, are the ones who elect their own ary projects and being able to do a lot in a leaders putting them into authoritative po- year are always at the forefront of what is sitions and giving them the privilege of expected of the student government, it is leading a path towards student involve- their basic responsibility of representing ment into the matters of the school. In the others and leading the ways to involve short, the officers of the student govern- all to the issues and activities of the ment are placed into their positions by the school, that already makes the student opinions of the students themselves, government really significant as it satisfies which makes their votes especially signifi- its main purpose and intention which crecant with regards to this issue. ated it in the first place. The student government is like a puzThe implication? A student’s vote zle piece significant to educating students. counts not only because of its ability to It teaches them to be responsible enough place people in leadership positions but when it comes to leading and following also because of the impact of those peorules, and allows their opinions help in ple in the entire landscape of the school. â–
Structures
FIONA FAYE MALAPITAN fionamalapitan_14@yahoo.com
On March 21, we will have a new set of elected student leaders. That is the Student Government or simply the SG. The legacies of each batch of Student Governments vary as far as the activities and the issues that they emphasize more than others are concerned. It is these points of emphasis and the active involvement of the constituents which somehow measure the SG’s performance. Under these parameters, the SG’s ble to effect school policy change, they performance has been viewed by some were at least able to listen to the students students as “questionable”. This per- and the amount of support for this cause. ceived status may carry over to election This example reminds us of the role seasons, as students think that the cur- that we constituents play in campus polirent officials are not worth re-electing. tics. It is the job of the SG to listen to our Their list of election platforms at the be- concerns and forward them to the proper ginning of the year end up unfinished at forums, and while more methods could be the end of the year. done to encourage us to voice out our To be fair though, every year the Stu- opinions, it remains up to us whether or dent Government has satisfactorily per- not to actually speak out. Unfortunately formed its regular duties such as partici- the SG as an avenue for student concerns pation in major school activities. It is from is an option that very few students avail here that some people also perceive the of. Anyways, that is what campus politics SG as the most important student group should be about: voting the right people in school, as it should be. Furthermore, and voicing out in order to further your this year’s SG was able to forward some interests. student concerns, such as allowing stuIn conclusion, your job does not end dents to bring cellphones inside campus on March 21 when you vote. You also during school days. While they were una- need to be heard by the right people. ■
Pandemonium SHAMMERY ADATO sfadato@gmail.com
With the school year ending and with the school preparing for a new one, we get to elect new SG officials to push forth our issues. The student government does still exist to state the issue and help find a solution to it. However, it seems that we tend to dwell more on the ability (or inability) of the SG to solve these issues and less on whether or not these issues should be given the most importance in the first place. To start it off, I will give some exam- nasium in the first floor. Therefore, the ples of issues Rosarians have been com- girls from the top floors have to go down plaining for the past few years. Some multiple flights of steps to go to the washcomplain about bathroom logistics “going room. The current SG once said that they down the drain”. Under this concern, the will help resolve this issue, among other Elementary Department have it easy, with as stated in their platforms; however, RoCR’s being available in every classroom. sarians are still silently screaming for furOn the other hand, the High School De- ther improvements. partment is “not very lucky”, with there Another issue is the airconditioning. being exactly three usable bathrooms for Just this year we finally get to experience the high school students. Ironically, there that refreshing coldness we have been is only one usable bathroom for girls and waiting for months in October. This has its all the way down just behind the gym- been a facility that a lot of students across
Little problems, big school (FROM PAGE 3) multiple batches had been clamouring for. In fact, for years it has found a home in many SG candidates’ platforms. We students have finally been given what we want, but this school year, there have already been rumblings of complaints among student circles that some AC units are not immediately fixed upon their malfunctioning, in the same way that complaints surface with regard to other facilities, such as electric fans (before the AC units), and lights. Next is the never-ending cell phone issue. Ever since cell phone technology has upgraded itself once more with its front cams and touch screens, there is no Rosarian without a cell phone at hand. Consequently, more and more students are bringing cell phones for countless useless reasons (even if it is not allowed). Also, there are even cases of lost or misplaced cell phones as we speak. I personally find it kind of ridiculous that students complain about them losing their gadgets when in fact, they are not allowed to bring them in the first place. The three examples cited in this article are all important matters, considering the fact that these are lingering issues, but I think the problem is that we focus too much only on these issues as if these were the only matters that the SG should bother exploring within the span of a school year. This is not to say that the SG
should stop pushing for the resolution of these issues, but it seems that they can only do so much for it that maybe it is time to explore other matters that students are not too vocal about yet they should be concerned about. This all goes back to a lack of imagination for everyone involved. Students for the longest time have been pointing out the same needs but have been unable to notice other aspects that they (and their parents) need to be concerned about: for instance, course and faculty evaluations or even changes in entire curriculums. There is also a lack of imagination as far as the SG batches are concerned as maybe they have just listened to what their constituents want without evaluating other things they may also need. After all, SG officers are elected assuming they can not only listen to, but also look after the interests of their fellow students, especially those that are not so popular or noticable. In a nutshell, we tend to focus on just selected issues. We focus on issues that gives us students the most annoyance or that will give us the most benefits once resolved. There is, however, the occasional complaints about the current schools’ educational system but how often does that happen? We Rosarians tend to focus on small problems for a big school. I say go out of the box sometimes with what we demand for and who we vote for. â–
Holy Rosary College will conduct its annual Student Government (SG) elections on March 21. This event will determine the SG Officers for school year 2014-2015. Candidates This year’s candidacy for Student Government SY 2014-2015 has been finalized, resulting in three parties: Alliance of Veracious Officers Implementing Change and Empowering Students (VOICES), Liberty and Education Towards Success (LETS) Party, and Leadership for Development (L4D) Party. Alliance of VOICES, led by John Loyd De Troz (Mayor), includes Reginald Lunar (Vice Mayor), Alyssa Manalang (Secretary), Vanessa Tapay (Treasurer), Gale Zaide (Auditor), Shane Yolola (Chief Marshall), and the following representatives: Owen Santos and Shai Pablo (Grade 7), Arvin Rufino and Rhea Salanguit (Grade 8), Albert Patupat and Evets Fullido (Grade 9), and Ammiel Leoncio and Mayumi Saito (4th Year). LETS Party, led by Gourev Chawla (Mayor), includes Lia Gomez (Vice Mayor), Karen Morales (Secretary), Lalaine Ortecio (Treasurer), Jeanella Beato (Auditor), Tyron Yanza (Chief Marshall), and the following representatives: Soilo Diaz and Natasha Vierneza (Grade 7), Alroi Salamat and Milyn Arevalo (Grade 8), Ruiz Agnazata and Trisha Garcia (Grade 9), and Carlo Canlas and Coleen de Matta (4th Year). L4D party, led by Eubert Abenojar (Mayor), includes Bianca Galarse (Vice Mayor), Joshua Ablao (Secretary), Patrick Buan (Treasurer), Mariah Musni (Auditor), Pamela Madrigal (Chief Marshall), and the following representatives: Micah Cumpas and John Estallord Estayani (Grade 7), Alliah Petras and Matthew Malabuyoc (Grade 8), Reychelle Callo and Joshua Camagan (Grade 9), and Mara Dulog and Kim Alinsod (4th Year).
PHOTOS BY PAMELAH CONCEPCION AND MARIEL ESTERNON
BY STEVEN ILAGAN, JEANINE LATAQUIN, AND ROLLAN PARAKIKAY
Election Process The candidates for Mayor chose their members from the Grade 6 pupils to the 3rd Year students to fill up their coalitions with the different positions: Mayor, Treasurer, Chief Marshall, and Representatives (3rd Year), Vice Mayor, Auditor, and Representatives (Grade 8), Secretary and Representatives (Grade 7), and Representatives (Grade 6). The Student Government Campaign period began on March 10 and shall end on March 20. During this period, candidates post the lists of members from their respective parties and spread their names through fliers. The coalitions also start their room-to-room campaign. This year, the school started to allow online campaigning wherein advertisements through social networking sites are allowed; however, computerized campaign materials (CONTINUED ON PAGE 5)
Rosarians gear up... (FROM PAGE 5) are still banned. At the last day of the campaign period, the candidates are required to clean up the materials. The Senior Student Government Officers will manage and organize the election proper on March 21. They will also provide the ballots and ballot boxes used for the elections. The votes will then be tallied and posted near the main stairs. The winners of the SG Elections will pledge during the Acquaintance Party later this year. ‘Harapan sa Holy’ “Harapan sa Holy”, the first ever SG mayoral forum, will be held on March 20 at the school quadrangle as part of the preparation for the coming SG Elections. The
Beads will organize the said event. Harapan sa Holy will focus on the mayoral candidates as they answer questions from different people inside the school. It will consist of a quickfire round, panel round, audience round, and face-toface round. The panel will includeHuman Resources Department Head Mr. Gil Pambid, Sci-Math Department Coordinator Mr. Digs Salamat, and High School Assistant Principal Mr. Ruben Lambino. Other rounds include questions from fellow students and other teachers willing to ask questions to the mayoral candidates. The last round will be in the form of a face-to-face round between two candidates at a time. ■
BY THE EDITORIAL CARTOONISTS OF THE BEADS
BY GIAN REYES
BY ALEC SALAMAT
BY JOHN ADOLF SANCHO
BY JADE CAMUNGGOL