Finished reading Hunters of Dune. So much for studying for my test tomorrow. It's okay I guess. Not as philosophical as the other Dune novels(or maybe I should call them the real Dune novels). What I like is how fast the narrative is as compared to the other novels and how you have at least an inkling of what is happening and what is going to happen. Then again, I am using God Emperor of Dune as the reference novel. To the uninitiated, God Emperor, is the fourth novel of the series. It is the is most philosophical and has the slowest plot among the lot. I guess Frank Herbert really wanted to create a philosophy book but ended up writing fiction.

What I don't like is that the "chapter titles"(or the quotes from various characters and books of the Dune universe) tell too much about the chapter. The past novels are really great in making you think about what the relationship of the quote and the chapter is. I guess I just missed that pleasurable aspect of the Dune novels. And the book reads too easily. I expect that the Dune novels be trials in themselves. I recall frequently going to skim mode while reading God Emperor and Dune Messiah and then rereading a passage because I ended up not knowing what is happening.

Anyway, I look forward to reading the last book, Sandworms of Dune. I hear it sucks but I'm already a fanatic so whether it be good or bad, I am going to read it.

I know I have a very low(zero I think)number of readers but hopefully this'll help.

We need concerned citizens of the Philippines to sign the petition:
"Declaration of Support for the Immediate Passage of the Reproductive Health Bill into Law"

http://www.PetitionOnline.com/rhan2008/

Let our voices be heard amidst the din the irrational (religious) Right is making.

I watched the Reproductive Health Bill special of the ANC Debate show, Square Off. Instead of inviting student debate teams, they invited congressmen, professors and government officials to debate the issue. Of course, it smells of trouble. Clearly, they shouldn't have used their usual format for this special as most people do not know how debate works. The clear example is the slow speed of speech the speakers use while giving their arguments.The emcee even commented how refreshing to hear their speeches at such slow speeds.

As I'm pro-reproductive health bill, my opinions may be biased but I think I am open enough to discussion and will readily change my views if proven wrong. Though, the evidence and arguments should be of great magnitude to convince me that the RH bill shouldn't be approved.

I find that the negative group gave useless arguments overall. There were glimmers of brilliance and points that if properly framed and argued would have helped their side win but they wasted the chance. Besides, they used such stupid arguments(Natural law? Pope John Paul II? We shouldn't help the poor?) that the affirmative side was even able to rebutt them without even giving contrary evidence.

They also used dirty tactics. Ad hominem attacks are a favorite. Citing debunked studies. Citing studies which are so old that they preceded the Philippine Independence from Spain. Cherry picking data. Putting words into the mouths of the affirmative side. Fallacious arguments like ad populum and appeal to emotion. Lying. Twisting the truth(No Cong., they would not spend 5000 pesos to have a ligation if they already have 5 children to worry about. And no, not all LGUs allow their constituents access to cheap or free contraception). What the F?

Of course,their arguments could probably sway some of the people HAD the affirmative not countered them completely. I also fell for the decreasing fertility rate canard when I first encountered it that I had to rethink my beliefs and arguments again. The answer of course is that, firstly, the fertility rate is just an average and not representative of the whole population. I think the distribution is very skewed. In addition, the fertility rate is still not equal to the desired fertility rate of women, which I think, is the most important thing to consider in reproductive health.

The affirmative side also had some problems. During cross-examinations, they also use ad hominem attacks though to a lesser degree. And they failed to answer some arguments properly. And they speak so slowly.

What I like about the debate is that it didn't end up going into the messy icky discussion about abortion, contraception and Life. Even though, the negative group was really trying to draw the affirmative into that area. The affirmative succeeded in highlighting the repercussions of the bill on the situation of the poor while the negative succeeded in showing that they really don't care for the poor and that they really hate it when people enjoy having sex.

What I wanted to hear but didn't was clarification on why the negative oppose the bill when it doesn't violate the rights. And how NOT passing the bill will help the poor.  I also wanted to hear the arguments of the affirmative about (what I think is one of the biggest issues regarding passing the bill) the protecting the unborn found in our Constitution.

A more comprehensive and clearer recap might follow this post.

the public health student lounge
yes, it's rudimentary but we have wi-fi

I feel that I've hit another plateau in my dancing. It seems that my memory is failing me and my body is not doing steps properly. I hope this slump doesn't last any longer. I really love dancing but I have little time left. I am attending med school next year and I am not sure if I can continue with it. Not to mention the cost of all those master's classes. *Sigh*

We also received most of the results of the first wave. I really sucked at two subjects. I've decided that I'll take the finals of one of my subjects in order to pull my grades up. I do not want to lose my current standing. Three years of hardwork should not be wasted.

It begins. We finally learned who will be our groupmates for the PH 197/199 Special Studies course aka the THESIS. I feel no hard feelings about my groupmates. I don't hate anybody and I am not super close to anybody. I don't know if this is good or bad. The only thing I'm worried about it what our research topic and problem will be. And I ended up in health promotion and education not in any of the "hard sciences." Is this a foreboding regarding my future career?

self-portrait, B&W practice
not that noticeable but the bridge of my nose
got focused instead of my eyes...

I'm bored again. And I have stiff neck. And I have test tomorrow. The test is scheduled in the afternoon and I don't have a morning class so I have plenty of time. I want to download this anime torrent but my PC has this set-up where it deletes all the things I save in the C:/ folder whether it be a program or a simple txt file every time I shut down. So, I have to remove that first, restart my computer, install Bittorrent, download the torrent, restart my PC, return the settings and finally, restart my PC. Really, too much work for a Sunday afternoon. Maybe, next week when I have a long weekend.

As I was making this post, Patti Smith was playing. I'm no hardcore rock fan; I am still not sure whether I've heard Bohemian Rhapsody and if I did, I'm not sure that I liked it but Patti Smith is nice...no wait... cool. I should download more of her songs but my D:/ drive(the one without the setting I mentioned) is almost full so I have to transfer some of my files to the very empty C:/ drive which entails that whole sequence in the previous paragraph minus the Bittorrent part. Now Hikaru Utada is playing; I don't understand Nihonggo but I like how she conveys emotions in her songs and the anime fanboy in me really likes Jap songs.

peace

Life is returning to normal. Batch conflicts and issues are resolved though the scars of conflict still remain. People are starting to realize that despite the sparks and outbursts, we still and need to care for each other. My life remains conflict-free. I have long ago let go of the bias I felt for certain people though there a some out there I wouldn't want to work with.

Special studies or thesis groupings will be released next week. I can't wait to start our research. I want to experience high loads of stress again. And then there is that group dynamics thing to worry about.

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A demonstration was held near our college building last month.(No photos, I didn't have my cam that day.) I saw an old HS classmate and asked her about stuff and what was the purpose of the rally. Surprisingly, it was not only in UP Manila do organizations feel the "repression." It was actually quite worse in the other campuses. UPLB still doesn't have its own University Student Council. Also many organizations are not being acknowledged due to illogical reasons like Fraternities are discriminating against females so they shouldn't exist or religious gatherings are wrong because UP is non-sectarian. FTW?! UPD organizations are being asked to pay exorbitant fees in order to use rooms and facilities. They also have to experience very strict and time-consuming procedures in order to get accredited or have activities approved.

What happened to UP trying to produce human, humane and humanistic graduates? I don't know. On the other hand, students really are trying the admins patience by charging their laptops, psps and whatnots in university facilities. Tambayans are turning into student lounges instead of being used as areas for productive work.

Still, I agree that UP charges too much for students to use facilities(the room rental for one hour is almost equivalent or greater than our electricity bill). If my org was asked to pay for the room we use for practice, we'd have disbanded a long time ago or would be practicing in the Paz Mendoza parking lot.

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I finally learned what to call the Abu Sayyaf scarf that's becoming a fashion trend: keffiyeh or shemagh. A friend thought it was called a pashmina. Hah! Hiphop be's and wannabe's wearing a pashmina. Lolz. Anyway, I think this trend is harmless but people really look stupid when they go to malls wearing this, a sando, shorts and slippers. We get it you want to keep warm with your oh-so-fashionable shemagh but you could have achieved the same effect by wearing a really nice scarf or jacket and real clothes not underwear.