Guwardiya ni Palparan, isa sa mga dumukot kina Karen at She — Page 5 Multiples
Philippine Collegian Opisyal na lingguhang pahayagan ng mga mag-aaral ng Unibersidad ng Pilipinas - Diliman 10 Agosto 2011 Taon 89, Blg. 9
Terminal Cases Delfin Mercado
Annual gov’t subsidy for SUCs short by P9B
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raserheads hit it right when they said we all needed a superproxy. There is just too much work, too much pressure to last till the end by yourself. And now, thankfully, we have proxies everywhere.
Two thirds of deficiency shouldered by students Continued on page 4»
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Design by Nico Villarete Photographs by Chris Martin Imperial and Richard Jacob Dy
The allure of tourism amidst budget cuts Features Page 7
Unraveling fraud Editoryal Page 2
Mabilis, maagap --ganyan ang ninja sa Casaa Kultura Page 8
With the world’s current configuration, it is impossible not to copy oneself. There’s the virtual world to take care of all our proxies—in just one click, I can reproduce (or reprogram) myself in some obscure space measured in bytes and bandwith. Our online presence is an extension of ourselves – it is part of us, but is not us. My facebook persona may reflect a part of me I do not show in real life, in much the same way that my twitter account often posts stuff I will not dare say out loud in class. By creating the virtual world, we are forever guilty of complicating our already befuddled lives. So when the cyberworld feasted on Christopher Lao, complications unraveled. I saw people unleash their other selves, parts of them they previously kept secret. Lao, whose gravest mistake was that he wasn’t street smart and media savvy, was the netizens’ laughingstock for a couple of days. His claim to fame (or infamy) could have passed as just one of anyone’s bad days. Unluckily, a television crew taped the incident and his frustrated remarks, and showed it on primetime television. Within minutes of the broadcast of the newsbit, my online contacts mutated and evolved to new beings. A really timid female classmate suddenly transformed to a bitch, laughing her ass off when a friend tagged her in some Lao-related post. My quiet cousin started liking cusses posted as comments, and improvised on netspeak— that was the most I heard (or read?) him talk about something. And suddenly people, who lived through everyday without sparing a moment for activities that nurture social awareness (read: watching the news), had a lot to say on the Lao subject. Various commentators have pointed out how slanted the representation of Chris was on that news report, how the sound bites chosen for the report allegedly highlighted Chris’ stupidity and arrogance. Other groups called for the responsible use of the social media. The discussions bore on, with people suddenly feeling relevant and obliged to take a stance. Who said what to whom? For his friends, Chris is a conscientious student, a helpful classmate. For his family, he may be a thoughtful and caring father. But in the eyes of those who judged him based on the viral video, he is an arrogant law student who is putting himself above others. The online representation of Chris – the video – has taken a life of its own, far removed from the reality that his close associates would have known. Maybe even far removed from Chris’ perceived notion of himself. I tried to join the discussion on Lao, but I couldn’t think of anything witty to say. Now that is me trying, and failing, to program a copy of myself. ●