ECHOES March 2010

CONTENTS 1 Editorial

Layout by Rehi Dimayuga 2 Commnews

Layout by Paolo Tamase 8 News

Layout by Mia Astudillo 18 Halalan 2010: What can the Youth do?

Layout by Raymond Zabala 19 Meet the Scholars: Detour to Scholar City Layout by Mia Astudillo 20 New Mems Stats

Layout by Kimmie Lazo 21 Summer Fling

Layout by Kimmie Lazo; Art by Mads Salazar 22 Best Summer Vacation Destinations

Layout by Irene Arzadon 23 Six Easy Steps to Planning Your Own Getaway Art by Chrissie Cruz 24 Summer Playlist

26 Surviving Summer Class

Layout by Mia Astudillo; Art by Jes Manipon 27 A Guide to the Couch Potato

Layout by Kevin Estopace; Art by Cams Bayhon 28 Fight the Power

Layout by Kenneth Reyes 30 The Economics of El Niño

Layout and Art by Kenneth Reyes 32 Overdrive Photo Spread

Layout by Rehi Dimayuga 34 Remembrance of Pre- and Post- TOFI Pasts Layout by Irene Arzadon; Art by Kenneth Reyes 36 The Secret of the Universe

Layout by Irene Arzadon 37 Cheers to the Class of 2010

Layout by Sel Ortiga 38 Firsts and Lasts

Art by Pat Aquillo 52 Do it Yourself: ‘How to’ Questions

Layout by Rehi Dimayuga 54 Style File: The Summer Makeover Challenge Layout by Rehi Dimayuga 56 Q&A with Q&A: The Replacement

Layout by Sel Ortiga 58 Fitness Corner

Layout by Rehi Dimayuga 64 After the Break Forecast

Layout by Raymond Zabala 65 The Burnbook

Layout by Rehi Dimayuga

Front and Back Cover design by Paolo Tamase; Back Page Comics by Kenneth Reyes

Pat Aquillo Paolo Tamase Paolo Emmanuel Tamase Pai Nieva Cams Bayhon Patrick Santos Marian Trespeses Editor-in-Chief Ma. Carmela Angeli Astudillo Associate Editor Karen Orticio Managing Editor Jessica Manipon Features Editor Irene Jo Arzadon News Editor Kristine Joy Cunanan Special Projects and Probe Editor Ma. Regina Kassandra Dimayuga Layout Editor Kenneth Luigi Reyes Art Editor Patrick Allen Santos Photo Editor

Ben Bismark Will-J Sarmiento Triszh Hermogenes Kash Salvador Ray Francisco Kenna Barit Geoff Bautista Chiara Cokieng Kenneth Reyes Sieg Alegado Raffy Fulgar Sel Ortiga Raymond Zabala Jamoy Jampac Cocoy Vargas Aaron Aw Anjelo Quintos Gilbert Bueno Karlo Patron Features Staff

Chrissie Cruz Jes Manipon Kenneth Reyes Mads Salazar Art Staff

Rehi Dimayuga Paolo Tamase Sel Ortiga Kevin Estopace Kimmie Lazo Raymond Zabala Mia Astudillo Irene Arzadon Layout Staff

Cams Bayhon Photo Staff

Audrey Austria Ralph Dantes Kenneth Reyes Pers Betana Mark Matibag Enzo Clemente Mia Astudillo Kim Orticio Dhiren Karnani Henry Tan Reuel Realin Jes Manipon Leus Punsalan Darrel Jimenez Marianne Sibulo Miko Gloria News Staff

STAFF BOX

EDITORIAL

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The Finance Committee would like to thank:

The Finance Committee would like to thank:

The Sports Committee would like to thank:

Sisfire 7: Juan Vote! would like to thank:

Sisfire 7: Juan Vote! would like to thank:

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SUMMER PLAYLIST

By Kash Salvador

Hey you boys and girls! Once again, the heat is blazing and summer is letting us feel the full force of it. Finally, an escape from school torture! We all have different ways of spending it—some would go partying on Boracay’s white beach, some would go to U.P. for summer classes, and others would just chill at home and enjoys the comfort of an extra warm couch due to hours and hours of watching television. For those who still don’t have plans this summer, let me give a run down of what’s happening in the ins and outs of the metro.

MOVIES Clash of the Titans: If you think “Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief ” was such a childish movie, you’d appreciate this. Opens April 3 this year.

Iron Man 2: Tony Stark is back and now with a little more sauce as Scarlett Johansson joins the picture as Black Widow. In theatres May 7.

Prince of Persia: The people who brought you “Pirates of the Caribbean” are back with a new movie from your console games. Starring Jake Gyllenhall and produced by Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer. Note: I believe that when a movie is created by Jerry Bruckheimer, it is bound to kick ass. In theatres May 28.

Salt: If you haven’t had enough of the sexy Angelina Jolie’s spy/assassin characters in “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” and “Wanted,” here is a new movie. Don’t want to spoil the details though.

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CONCERTS Timbaland ft. Justin Timberlake and Jojo – Changing Lives: The concert is happening this Saturday at the SM Mall of Asia concert grounds. Tickets are sold at P4651.20 for VIPs, and the mosh pit area is valued up to P8,268.80 According to the Ticketworld website, Justin Timberlake is going to perform eight songs live and NOT through an LCD screen—that my friends is off the hook. Note: Jojo’s real name is Joanna Noëlle Blagden Levesque.

Super Junior Super Show 2: For all Korea fans out there, here’s something for you. Super Junior is going to perform at the Araneta Coliseum on April 10, 7 pm. Super VIP standing costs P7920, so better smash those piggy banks now as very limited tickets will be sold.

John Mayer: A personal favorite since his “Room for Squares” album, John Mayer will be live in Manila at the SM Mall of Asia concert grounds on May 16. Not to dishearten all you fans out there but I’m kind of hesitant because of the venue. I’m sure you know that John Mayer is a demigod as far as guitars are concerned; the MOA concert grounds may not have the same quality of acoustics like the Araneta Coliseum.

Kelly Clarkson: On Labor day, why not celebrate the holiday at the Araneta Coliseum with the famous first American Idol, who is on her fourth album tour entitled, “All I Ever Wanted.” If ever I watch this, she has to sing “Since You’ve Been Gone.”

OTHERS Cats: Based on the series of poems by T.S. Eliot, “Cats, Now and Forever,” the musical will be played at the Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo, Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) starting July 24, 2010 up to August 8, 2010. Our very own Lea Salonga will portray the role of Grizabella.

Of course this is only a short list of what’s going to happen this summer. You can always “party all night and sleep all day” if that’s what you’re into. Try to create your own checklist of what you want to do this summer. Remember that a good summer vacation is not defined by the places or events you went to, but by the company you shared it with and the experiences you got from it.

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Firsts and Lasts

By RZ and Flo

First Tambay “What is the ‘Execom’? Are they the exit committee?” asked an uninformed applicant to his fellow co-applicants. As I stepped into the room, I still could not fully understand the whole org concept. I didn’t know how it worked, how it was organized, what it did—all I know was I was about to enter a room full of random strangers. I was surrounded by unfamiliar faces as I sat on the platform, which once existed in Room 121. My first instinct was to leave the room to escape the surreal awkwardness I was facing.

I was the uninformed applicant. The Exit Committee came into my mind because you have to let them sign your hours before exiting the room. The person I was when I first entered the Tambayan was not that different from the person I am right now. I still have the same religion, the same principles, the same values.

How different I am from that person is another story. At the end of the day, it isn’t about how little/much you knew back then; rather, it is about how much you learned in your whole stay in Ecosoc. I entered the Tambayan as an almost-pathetic applicant, and when the time came for me to finally exit the Tambayan, I know what I’ll be then—fulfilled.

Last Tambay I can never comprehend how I was able to complete my 50 required hours of tambay back when I was an applicant. Come to think of it, I may have cheated a few minutes here and there. Now that I’m a member, logbooks are a thing of the past since your gauge of frequent tambay is really on how up-to-date you are with the latest happenings on and off the couch. (Others call it ‘chismis;’ I call it ‘social awareness.’) But I digress.

Going to the tambayan to plug my laptop, to play pusoy dos or even to just bum around as you ponder whether to cut class or not—well, these little moments gradually became part of my daily routine. More than that, it has become a way of life, my way of life. I used to wonder why some people bother going back to the Tambayan to eat lunch and then leave again for their next class, until I became one of them. Now that I’m about to leave this organization, I wonder if I will ever see myself coming back to the room with the green wall, whether it’s just to plug my laptop, play a card game, or even bum around.

First Vice Night Being the outgoing person I was before, it took a while before I experienced my first vice night. As a first-timer, the primary goal for the night was to experience it fully. You know what I mean.

It was an effort for a good boy smoker who only smokes to take intoxicating drinks. But everything seemed to be falling at the right place—an empty stomach after a tiring day and good company. You know what’s next.

The title of the event does too much labeling for the event, I have noticed, when well, in fact, it’s like a better TBS—you get to bond with your fellow members and you get to know the applicants better without the need to be competitive.

With a cup of coffee, Pael’s magic hilod, and friends who

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won’t let you sleep on the pavement, I was able to survive my first ever alcoholism

Last Vice Night A lesson for the kids: eat, sleep and be merry, for in fourth year, YOU DIE. After three years, you will finally reach a satiation point for your alcoholic needs. Who knew this day would come?

That’s when you realize that the trade-off for these crazy, wild nights of intoxication is actually a night of meaningful conversations filled with three buckets of nostalgia. Crazy, yes. Wild, most definitely. But this time, everyone remembers. Now it’s a fair game.

Off you go into the real world where Friday nights automatically become inuman nights, where you drink to get rid of the pain in your neck that is your boss, where you no longer bother looking for a mixed drink and instead, settle for a bottle of beer just like everyone else.

You pause and wonder, hey drinking, why so serious?

First Ecosoc moment It isn’t hard for me to pinpoint where it all began. The tipping point of my college life was my first encounter with Ecosoc. What started out as a joke that backfired (thanks again, Inna) resulted to the biggest responsibility that I have ever handled back then. I became a full-fledged leader right after my first Ecosoc moment.

The pressure coming from the amount of responsibility and the euphoria emanating from the position lasted in me until the end of the application process. Who would have guessed that it was a start for me?

And whenever I reminisce and trace my beginnings in Ecosoc, I never fail to be amazed at how schemes are laid. And right after, the only thing that comes to my mind was always: thank you.

Last Ecosoc moment When you’ve got nothing left to do than worry about your grad dress, you start reflecting how you’ve spent the last three years of your life. You start connecting the dots and see if there’s anything to connect at all. You look back at the ones who have left before you, how life has been for them. You reflect on your beautiful spectrum of grades, with each number having a different story. You think back at the times when you could’ve done this, should’ve done that.

You might not clearly remember the events, but you most definitely remember the people.

And you wonder why you gave so much of yourself to this organization when it’s bound to be forgotten in a couple of months’ time. You give out your graduation pictures to undergrads in the hopes of leaving a visual representation of yourself. And then new faces will replace yours, each more perky and enthusiastic than the next. Your attempt at immortality is futile, to say the least.

Ah, the wonders of life.

And as you turn off the lights, you smile. And you just know.

Sisfire 7: Juan Vote! would like to thank:

Sisfire 7: Juan Vote! would like to thank:

Sisfire 7: Juan Vote! would like to thank:

Sisfire 7: Juan Vote! would like to thank:

Sisfire 7: Juan Vote! Media Sponsors:

Sisfire 7: Juan Vote! would like to thank:

Sisfire 7: Juan Vote! Media Sponsors:

Sisfire 7: Juan Vote! Media Sponsors:

Sisfire 7: Juan Vote! Media Sponsors:

Sisfire 7: Juan Vote! Media Sponsors:

Sisfire 7: Juan Vote! Media Sponsors:

Sisfire 7: Juan Vote! Media Sponsors:

Sisfire 7: Juan Vote! Media Sponsors:

Echoes would like to thank:

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The Externals Committee would like to thank:

Tranced would like to thank:

Tranced would like to thank:

Tranced would like to thank:

Tranced would like to thank:

The Sports Committee would like to thank:

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