Today's Carolinian - November 2017 Newsletter

Today’s CAROLINIAN

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Photograph by Keith Ayuman

NEW STUDENT MANUAL EXPECTED NEXT YEAR Laura Posadas Next academic year, the Carolinian body will not only be welcoming freshmen once more, but also a new student manual. The manual is expected to be approved by the Administration and the Board of Trustees by December this year.

The need for a new student manual is a requirement under the Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities (PAASCU) which, under its policies, requires educational institutions to review and make amendments to their student manuals every three to five years.

However, the significant changes made in the new student manual are still undetermined at this point since the discussions made by the Student Manual Committee are still under advisement and consideration. The scope of the discourse between the different members of the committee varies from student’s rights and duties to the academic policies.

“All things discussed by the Student Manual Committee are still proposals and not final provisions of the Student Manual. However, it

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is hoped that the Magna Carta for Student’s Rights will be part of the appendix,” stated SSC President Deodatus Burgos.

Furthermore, the committee is comprised of a mix and match of representatives from different offices and departments, namely: the Office of Student Services, the Office of Student Affairs, the Registrar’s Office, the deans of the schools, some department chairmen and the Supreme Student Council.

“Another purpose of revising the student manual is to actually make it more relevant, timely, effective and responsive to the needs of the students, especially now that there is a change in the educational system,” stated Burgos.

There is hope given to every Carolinian that by the next academic year, not only will college students have an official copy of the Magna Carta of Student’s rights within their own hands but the administration will also adhere to its mission in providing timely, relevant, and transformative policies that are responsive to the needs of its students. TC

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NEWS

NOVEMBER 2017 | Vol. 5 No. 3

On University Maintenance Blaise Pancho

Photograph by Franco Hermosilla The Physical Plants and Facilities Office (PPFO) continues to conduct routine maintenance checks throughout the departments in the university this month. Roberto Aler, Troy Gujilde, and Edgar Arceno – the three maintenance supervisors – have no major projects currently going on besides the usual daily repairs requested by various departments from the different campuses of the university. However, they mentioned that they are having difficulties because of the lack of manpower.

Aler, the air-conditioning, painting and fire protection supervisor, said that his team are performing checks on air conditioners in the USC–SAFAD and the Robert Hoeppner Building this

month. Other works needed to be done are the cabinetries and demolition in the water laboratory in the Lawrence Bunzel Building and the repainting of the Science Wing of the SAS Complex.

Gujilde, the carpentry supervisor, has completed minor construction projects in the Water Laboratory and the Senior High School Principal’s Office in the Lawrence Bunzel Building. The furniture in the TC Dormitories has been looked into as well. In the South and Downtown Campuses, Gujilde and his team finished the renovations of classrooms for senior high school students. Upcoming projects the team is currently working on are the installation of sliding windows and reroofing in the South Campus, the

reroofing of the chapel in the Downtown Campus, and rehabilitation of concrete fences in Talamban Campus.

Arceno, the electrics and plumbing supervisor, has been building rain depositories throughout the campuses of the university since last year. The water treatment facility in the Downtown Campus was also worked on this month.

The supervisors said that all repairs done for November depend on the worker request forms submitted by various departments that need equipment repairs.

As such, most of the maintenance work is minor and routine. TC

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NEWS

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Marawi Declared Liberated Yet War Continues Louisa Concepcion Carredo In his seventh visit since the city came under attack by ISIS loyalists, President Rodrigo Duterte declared Marawi City liberated last Oct. 17, 2017. Despite this declaration, the local siege has yet to come to a halt.On par with the President’s announcement, the military decided that, in order to take steps towards rehabilitation, ground commanders would conduct assessments to ensure habitants could return to their homes unharmed.

The possible presence of traps and unexploded ordnance posing a threat to the safety of the locals would also be looked into.

In addition to the military’s precautions in ensuring safety, President Duterte plans to rebuild Marawi City with funds from the 2018 budget which is currently being deliberated.

Rather than straightforwardly declaring the end of the battle in Marawi, Colonel Romeo Brawner, a deputy commander in the military, claimed the declaration of liberations as a strategic statement; with an underlying message in itself that: “The Maute-ISIS problem is over. They cannot be victorious anymore.”

With their two leading militants, Ipsilon Hapilon and Omar Maute, no longer alive, the terrorists are faced with a great setback. Even so, there is still plenty to be done, such as dealing with the threat of Dr. Mahmud Ahmad, a Malaysian terrorist who is suspected to have funded the attack on Marawi. As the remaining militants in Mindanao are still roaming free, the possibility of them regrouping still looms. Therefore, the military troops cannot afford to let their guard down until the rebellion is controlled and quelled. TC

Drug Personality Tags More Liberal Party Members as Alleged Narco-politicians Mary Elizah Castillo Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon and former Department of Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas were accused of being illegal drug protectors in Western Visayas. This claim was made by Rick Serenio, a surrendered bagman and level-three drug personality, at the La Carlota City Prosecutor’s office in Negros Occidental last Oct. 18.

The drug scheme supposedly involved Roxas, Drilon, Iloilo City Mayor Jed Mabilog and Iloilo drug lord Melvin Odicta.

In his affidavit, Serenio accused Roxas and Drilon of conspiring with Odicta to oust the Berya-Camaria partnership and control the entire illegal drug business in Western Visayas.

“Indeed, the Negros drug market is bigger than in Iloilo or Panay, as confirmed in the declaration of President Duterte that NIR is No. 3 as the most drug affected in the country,” Serenio said.

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II decided to treat the Serenio affidavit as a formal complaint, and use it for the preliminary investigation of the Department of Justice on the matter.

Aguirre also stated that all relevant information must be forwarded to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency because it has been tasked by President Rodrigo Duterte as the lead agency on the war on drugs.

Roxas described the accusation as a “poor and laughable attempt at fake news.” He further stated, “I don’t know nor have I any dealings with Serenio nor Odicta; as in zero. I have been and am anti-illegal drugs and the record of arrests, confiscations and buy-bust operations by the PNP during my time at DILG will show this.”

The government should focus on resolving the PHP 6.4 billion shabu shipment that slipped past the Bureau of Customs, instead of dragging Liberal Party members in cases with questionable witnesses, the Liberal Party stated last October Oct. 26.

TC

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MAIN OPINION

NOVEMBER 2017 | Vol. 5 No. 3

MEGA REHAB = MEGA ERROR

Illustration by Audrey Jade Tenorio

No matter how much social media tries to dramatize the Philippine war against drugs, not all Philippine drug users end up lifeless on the streets. In early 2016, there was an estimation of 1.25 million drug-related surrenders and about 1%-10% of these victims will need treatment and rehabilitation services. According to Health Secretary Paulyn Ubial, combining all existing treatment and rehabilitation centers in the Philippines at that time gave a total capacity of only 5,000 patients.

To resolve this shortage, a 10,000-patient capacity rehabilitation center was constructed in July 2016 in Fort Magsaysay, Nueva Ecija to cater to the estimated 125,000 drug surrenders who will need treatment and rehabilitation. The facility was inaugurated on November 29, 2016 and is known as the Mega Drug Treatment and Rehabilitation Center (Mega TRC).

Running a rehabilitation center that caters to 10,000 patients would entail having a huge staff and having enough facilities like lodgings, food and water to operate and maintain it. As of April 2017, Secretary Ubial estimates about 179 drug surrenders admitted in the Mega TRC, but this number is expected to increase especially after Supreme Court Administrator Jose Midas Marquez, in June 2017, directed all lower courts to issue commitment orders

to move arrested drug suspects to the Mega TRC. Having this mega rehabilitation facility means some of the patients from other overlycrowded smaller facilities will be forced to move to Nueva Ecija for treatment. While there is no problem with trying to maximize the use of the Mega TRC, moving a person from the Visayas, for example, to Nueva Ecija would mean uprooting him from his family and throwing him to the mercy of strangers.

For a person who might have paranoia as a side effect of drug abuse, that concept may bring more than just apprehension. His family cannot visit him as often as they would want to since he would be far away, and it’s safe to assume his family wouldn’t have funds to visit him even occasionally, let alone on a regular basis. This takes away the family support system, a vital factor in helping drug users try to get over their addiction.

If the 1.5 billion pesos invested in this facility was used to create community-based rehabilitation centers where patients have the choice to either go home to their families every day or allow themselves to be admitted in the center as temporary residents until full recovery, the government could have avoided the high maintenance costs of a 10,000-capacity facility that, after a year since

its opening, still has less than a thousand admissions. In addition, a lower number of patients means each person’s progress is easier to monitor, reducing the need for more staff. Due to their accessibility, these smaller centers would encourage drug addiction victims to go into rehabilitation. Smaller community-based rehabilitation centers, as DDB Chairman Santiago puts it, will have lower overhead cost per patient since it’s more likely to be filled up to capacity.

It must be noted, however, that this center was donated by Chinese billionaire Huang Rulun to help fight the crime of illegal drug usage. It being a donation means we couldn’t have made demands from our benefactor.

Nevertheless, if the center was thought through before construction was started, the government could have come up with a more practical project.

There are now plans to use some space in the Mega TRC for community-based rehabilitation.

This, however, does not eliminate the problem of its inaccessibility to patients from places other than Nueva Ecija. For now, the Mega TRC is an existing structure and there is nothing practical we can do to change that. At the very least, our government is making the effort to minimize the consequences of this supposedly useful yet ill-planned project. TC

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OPINION

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Around the World in 280 Characters Twice the characters! Twice the fun! Twice as much space for Donald Trump to harass fellow politicians and world leaders!

a text message. “More space makes it easier for people to fit thoughts in a tweet,” explained Twitter representative Aliza Rosen.

Twitter’s decision to double its playing field from a clean 140 characters to an imposing 280 has certainly made an impact on its userbase. From halving the number of tweets in a thread to playing chess and Connect Four with emoji, the possibilities of the new format are mundane in the most exciting way -- par for the course, as far as Twitter is concerned.

The reception to this, although nowhere near as violent as much of the other goings-on of Twitter, hasn’t been unanimously positive. “Ya don’t add syllables to the limerick, or haiku, or sestina,” tweeted Lin-Manuel Miranda of Hamilton and Moana fame during the testing phase of the 280-character update. “The fun is what you can do within the form.”

In truth, the 140 limit itself was an arbitrary limitation, a living fossil of the time when that was all the average flip-phone could fit in

This being said, Twitter moving away from an age defined by technology’s limitations shows their acknowledgment of the

platform as not only a social media hub, but also one of the most influential ways to spread ideas in a time of rapidlydeclining attention spans.

Twitter’s update will not change the way it forces its users to be concise and eloquent in equal measure, but it will make the annoying red marks of “-1” and “-2” characters over the limit much less of an overbearing presence.

And of course, there will always be room for memes. Now if only we could get that edit button...

TC

Paolo Perez

Of Book Covers and Politicians Mixed commentaries were received during the recently concluded 31st ASEAN summit: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his takeout from Jollibee, US President Donald Trump and his botched handshake, and the like.

However, it was never highlighted what was really discussed during the summit. What was more put into the spotlight were the publicity stints and failures these leaders have committed.

Christian Rey Camay

Time and time again, Filipinos have proven to the world that their political maturity falls low compared to other countries.

The fact that many were more interested in how Trudeau fits

into their Prince Charming image rather than the economic, social and cultural deals that he made between the ASEAN regional bloc and Canada is appalling.

Do take note, Justin Trudeau is neither a saint nor a savior of liberal democracy.

The issue regarding the 103 container vans filled with garbage, dumped in Manila all the way back June 2013 is still unresolved. That trash is still sitting in its containers at this very moment. Moreover, he plans to sell 173 billion barrels of oil from the tar sands of Alberta.

Experts say this would produce 30% of the carbon necessary to take past the 1.5 degrees Celsius

target that, ironically, Canada helped set in Paris.

It cannot be denied how malignant the phenomenon of personality politics is in our country, where citizens tend to put persons in power just because they are good-looking, rich and known, not because of the credentials and the principles that they hold. This phenomenon affects how we view people, because by putting them on a pedestal, we then negate the corruption and immorality that person has done or is doing.

If a book mustn’t be judged by its cover, a politician mustn’t also be judged by his PR. TC

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OPINION

NOVEMBER 2017 | Vol. 5 No. 3

The Pursuit of Happiness Our culture is obsessed with being happy. We see life as a pursuit of happiness, and the map towards it is in our dreams.

TV and books reinforce this by romanticizing the struggling artist defying the conventional office job to follow his heart. Even the successful white collars will attribute their success to their love for the job.

Janzyl Go

What does this mean for those of us who picked our careers only because of familial obligations and pressure to provide?

Research in positive psychology tells us we will be just as happy, and maybe even live fuller lives.

Our obsession with living out our dreams is getting in the way of actual happiness. The single-

minded pursuit of our hearts’ desires is, in fact, only making us more prone to depression, feeling hopeless, alone and without purpose.

Purpose is the key to a fulfilling life, not happiness, and the key to purpose is using our strengths to serve others. Social psychologist Roy Maumesiter said, “Partly what we do as human beings is to take care of others and contribute to others. This makes life meaningful, but it does not necessarily make us happy.”

More research has shown that having this purposeful life increases the overall well-being of a person. Life satisfaction and self-esteem increases, mental and physical health is improved,

and chances decrease.

of

depression

When we focus our energy into serving those around us, we stop looking inward and begin looking outward to the people we love, from whom we derive our happiness. The pursuit of happiness is a selfish one, while leading a purposeful one is selfless. Worthwhile lives come from serving something beyond ourselves and developing the best within us.

Don’t blindly chase dreams and pick careers thinking it will make you happy. Instead, pursue your purpose and happiness will follow. TC

Superman vs. The War on Drugs Ever since the start of our current administration’s war on drugs, I have come to identify many of our countrymen with the titular Elite, a group of metahuman vigilantes who wanted to “free the Earth of scum”, in the animated film “Superman vs. The Elite”.

Sofia Isabel Tajos

The Elite, despite blatantly ignoring laws, were still supported by majority of the citizens; people agreed that flatout killing criminals would be the better choice, that justice for a deceased loved one is grounds enough to deprive another person of the chance to become better, that being a criminal immediately strips you of your right to live.

Superman stood alone against

the Elite. He stood alone because he knew that one could not merely decide the value of another one’s life. He made them realize that murder was only a lazy way out, and a bad one as well. He stood alone — and won.

This war has done too much damage to our country. Perhaps people take solace in knowing that somebody who might harm them has been killed. Perhaps it is easier and less nerve-wracking to just kill somebody off, rather than invest time into trusting them to change. Killing the people who do wrong still makes murderers out of us, except with people who are comforted by a false sense of improvement.

Change is coming, they say.

But change will only come when we give these people a chance at life.

We do not have to be heroes to know that we have to work hard for a better world. We do not have to be Superman to understand that this war has far too many consequences. We, too, can stand against this war — and win.

TC

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NEWS FEATURE

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Let Buying Guns be Bygones Kerstein Nicole Labay Illustration by Justine Patrice Bacareza

The growing ties between the Philippines and Russia this year speaks of our leaders’ efforts. This diplomacy has started to bring in investments which fuel our growing economy. Even more to it is the glamour of their guns, rifles and ammunitions, influence in the art of war, and a prospective immense partnership in terms of commerce.

Some protest these new allies due to the risk of alienating our biggest partner, the USA. Others point to an unfamiliarity with the country and its people, the lack of affinity in terms of our political ideals and even the lingering memories of attempts to expand communism in the Far East during the Cold War. Unfortunately, the Philippines is sorely behind in terms of military equipment compared to other ASEAN countries. We desperately need to catch up.

The USA was a long-time ally and our largest supplier for military hardware and arms, but the acquisition of those arms came with strict and difficult conditions. After the West Philippine Sea dispute, our country has found a

need to amass an even larger allocation for defense from sources beyond the USA. Russia, a newly acquired ally, made the days of complete reliance on the USA for purchasing guns a bygone time.

Our growing ties with Russia opened doors for reinforcements.

Competitively priced state-of-the-art weaponry and rigorous military exercises may now be used to our advantage, bringing us closer at par with neighboring nations in terms of defense. As a new trading partner, our indigenous produce reached a new market, another opportunity to invigorate our economy.

This upswing in our ties proved the odds to be in our favor. This new partnership with Russia will not weaken our link to our good friend, the USA, as assured by the United States Department of State spokesperson John Kirby. Kirby said that “foreign relations is not binary,” and thus our relations with them remain multifaceted and stable.

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NEWS FEATURE

NOVEMBER 2017 | Vol. 5 No. 3

eSports: Bane or Boon?

Dave Bernasibo Photograph by Karla Shanesse Bracamonte

“Undangi na kuno na imung computer.” “Pause sa gud na dong, pagtuon na diha!” “Pagtarung gud sa imung pagskwela dong, ayaw sige’g duwa.”

Video games have been a neck pain for adults ever since their inception. Many eSports enthusiasts have probably heard one, if not all, of the lines above. The rise of eSports brings with it critics, especially those who do not understand the thrill and excitement it brings, and instead see it as something negative and useless. But on April 26, 2015, ESPN shocked the whole world when it decided to air the finals match for a collegiate tournament on Heroes of the Storm, a game by Blizzard Entertainment. This brought the eSports community into the spotlight and gave rise to the question of whether or not they should be considered among other “actual” sports. The greatest argument against it is typically, “Sports require strenuous activity; eSports require you to sit in front of a computer. If that’s called a sport, then my job can also be a sport.”

For the past five years or so, the eSports community has blossomed from shop-to-shop tournaments into spectator-filled arenas, with fans donning their favorite teams’ shirts and rooting for players who duke it out in electronic coliseums. Multiplayer Online Battle Arenas, often called MOBA, are the type of games that dominate the eSports scene. They not only emulate the 5v5 arrangement of physical sports such as basketball, but they also tend to be very fastpaced, which keep the spectators and players on the edge of their seats despite the battle being fought entirely in the domain of pixels.

Despite video games often being criticized as a distraction from studies and obligations, our own university is home to USC Choi Academy, the eSports team that represents USC in the League of Legends Collegiate League (LCL).

“We are a team who plays with passion, and we’ve managed to get it all the way to the top eight teams for LCL. Imagine the morale boost we would get if the school supported our endeavors instead of seeing it as just another distraction or a waste of time,” said Jims Villa, the team’s current captain.

Their climb to success was not an easy one. In fact, it may have even been more strenuous than a conventional sports team’s due to the stigma that surrounds it. eSports is more than just sitting in front of a computer screen. Like other “legitimate” sports, it requires enhanced handeye coordination to quickly react to movements inside the game. Looking at the minimap for enemy movements, monitoring respawn and cooldown timers and anticipating enemy moves — all these and more require the kind of multitasking, strategizing and skillsets one would expect of any other sport.

When asked about the team’s inception, Earl Andrew Santos, who plays the role of carry in USC Choi, replied, “We started off as part of the legendary Choi Gaming. We were the team

two. After the first team slowly disappeared, we decided to form our own team, and since most of our members were USC students, we decided to carry the school’s name into the eSports Arena.”

The team has been playing together for two months now and has managed to land a spot on the top eight teams to compete for LCL. To debunk the misconception of videogames overtaking academics, Jovan Rodriguez, the team’s mid-laner, said that they make sure all schoolwork is finished before they start their practices. “Focus on your studies. Practice only starts when we have made sure that we have finished all our school-related activities,” he said.

Right now, the team funds itself out of their own pockets to spend for expenses such as shirts and plane tickets. They hope that eSports will soon be recognized as an official sport and would be treated as such, with players earning scholarships and getting official sponsorship from the university.

The only thing that stands in their way is the notion that eSports is just a glorified gaming hobby and nothing more than that. However, the same can also be said for conventional sports. What sets them apart from kids at the park? TC

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FEATURE

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BE THE SOLUTION Stephanie Camille Samonte, Kaye Diamos and Erica Nicole Jabel

In 1928, an accidental discovery by a man named Alexander Fleming ushered in a new era for modern medicine — the antibiotic age. Penicillin became widely known as a “wonder drug” at the time because it had the capacity to treat almost all kinds of infections.

Its mass production during World War II saved the lives of injured soldiers on and off the battlefield, and it became the miracle humanity needed in an era where infectious diseases killed millions day by day.

Yet, almost 90 years later, that miracle has progressively turned into one of the biggest public health dilemmas of our time. The once lifesaving drug is now mostly ineffective against the bacterial infections that it was able to treat during its golden years, all because of the crisis known as Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR).

History will tell us that adaptation was and still is a key factor for man’s survival. As a species, we were able to thrive because evolution, natural selection and invention allowed us to overcome the challenges that threatened our survival. Just like humans, microbes such as bacteria also have this incredible capacity to adapt which they have done in alarming rates. Thus, the problem of antimicrobial resistance began just as soon as the advent of the antibiotic era carved its way into history. It has now become a global crisis due to the fact that evolved superbugs threaten our capacity to combat even the most common diseases.

To address the problem, the International Pharmaceutical Students’ Federation and the International Veterinary Students’ Association launched a worldwide campaign that aimed to bring awareness regarding AMR. The two organizations encouraged pharmacy schools and health organizations to join the campaign during the celebration of the World Antimicrobial Resistance Week last Nov. 13-17, 2017. The School of Health Care Professions’ Department of Pharmacy answered the call and initiated a series of events as part of the AMR awareness week celebration. Some of these included the building-to-building awareness campaign conducted by the pharmacy students and a fourframe comic contest and an infomercial making contest hosted by the Junior Philippine Pharmacist Association-Pi council for the students.

The campaign mainly focused on three aspects regarding AMR: the cause, the impact and the solution.

We all share the blame.

Part of the campaign was the focus on the causes of AMR. Overuse and misuse of antibiotics brought about by human ignorance and misunderstanding has greatly contributed to the acceleration of the problem. Taking antibiotics for minor colds and flus, not finishing a prescribed antibiotic regimen, overprescribing of antibiotics and overuse of antibiotics in livestock breeding are just some of the causes of the problem because they are still wrongly observed in our society.

It is a grim prospect for our future.

Currently, cases of multidrug resistant diseases are on the rise.

According to the World Health Organization, as a direct result of AMR, there is an increase in mortality from previously treatable diseases such as tuberculosis, and the control of infectious diseases has now become more complicated with health care costs increasing. Since the process of drug discovery is painstakingly long, our current technology today cannot cope with the speed of microbial mutation yet. In fact, only one new class of antibiotics has been developed in the last 30 years. Therefore, humanity might face a frightening future of incurable diseases if this problem worsens.

There is still hope.

The responsible use of antibiotics slows down the progression of AMR because resistance can be prevented and eradicated when this is strictly observed. Diligently following our prescribed antibiotic regimens, observing proper hygiene and not sharing antibiotics are just some of the ways we can observe proper antibiotic use. Furthermore, we must always seek professional advice when taking antibiotics and be involved in spreading awareness regarding the problem.

We have a ticking clock in our hands. Be part of the solution now before time runs out. TC

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FEATURE

NOVEMBER 2017 | Vol. 5 No. 3

A comic by Stephanie Samonte, a 4th year BS Pharmacy student of the University of San Carlos, was chosen as one of the 6 winning entrees of the Four-frame comic competition, a worldwide competition hosted by the International Pharmaceutical Student’s Federation as part of the World Antimicrobial Awareness Week.

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LITERARY

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Order in the Court!

Louisa Concepcion Carredo

Photograph by Garel Sison Chaotic chatter engulfed the entire courtroom as an irritated voice bellowed out, “Order in the Court!” acting as a mute button. It was Judge, sitting tall and regal on his throne as his ivory crown of curls perched peacefully on his head . He signaled the prosecutor to begin his yapping and deliberately welcomed loose discord for the umpteenth time that day.

“As we all know, the Law of Stereotype states that as a member of society, each individual is subjected to a pre-determined title and backstory if they happen to act a certain way or display a certain characteristic. With that said, I call the accused to the stand!”

A resentful-looking figure stood up and shuffled to the front, shadowy beads narrowed bitterly at the one who summoned her.

“Miss Deffinne Dant , am I correct in saying that you refuse to accept and use the official titles given to you by society despite you clearly displaying and possessing the attributes present within those titles? Therefore you are knowingly breaking the Law of Stereotype, a law so embedded in the foundation of today’s society, correct?” claimed the prosecutor.

As for the assumption that I am lazy, irresponsible and as the ticket issued to me stated: walang future. I say: if only you knew. I will admit, I may occasionally hit snooze more times than I should and I may every now and then stumble into class looking like I came from an alcohol-drenched bachelorette party the night before, but I’m proud of those habits! Because I know WHY they occur! I spend my nights at the local 24-hour Jollibee to make ends meet, serving Chicken Joy – spicy and not spicy whilst sneaking in a quick review for my 7:30 a. m. class. I abuse that snooze button not because I am for domestic violence, but because maybe giving myself just 10 more minutes of sleep might increase my chances of staying awake during the 2 hour lecture later in the afternoon. So why have I become nothing but a title that gives me no justice?”

Glancing a sneaky peak at his watch, the prosecutor sighed. Eleven-fifty. Better get this one locked up in time for lunch.

“Miss Dant, I hear you and you tell a moving story. But the law is the law. And you broke it! Therefore, you should be found guilty of refusing to use the official titles vested upon you by society! Judge, your verdict?”

With a sigh, Judge announced: “GUILTY! Like the rest of ‘em.”

With aggravation painted on her face and an expression that screamed: triggered, the accused replied: “Well technically yes, but –“ “Ah! And there we have it! She admitted, she agreed, case closed! Man, I’m good!”

“I wasn’t finished! I have a reason why I haven’t been using the so-called official titles!” she exclaimed, “Your honor, if I may explain?”

Barely paying attention, Judge threw a nonchalant wave of approval.

Deffinne took in a determined breath of courtroom air and began whole-heartedly, “First and foremost – NONE of these titles are anywhere near accurate summaries of who I am as a person!”

The prosecutor rolled his eyes as if to say: here we go again.

“Yes, I often wear crop tops and ripped shorts. Yes, I often show my legs and arms and occasionally a raunchy bit of collarbone, but that doesn’t make me deserving, or anyone else for that matter, of being labeled as a floozy or any other variation of the word. Nor does it automatically mean I sleep around. I wear what I wear because it’s in style, because it’s Philippine weather-appropriate and because I feel and look good in it. None of my reasons make me qualified for such a title.

I have my fair share of tattoos, different designs that depict different stories. And because of this I am awarded the title of rebel. But did anyone stop to think that maybe my tattoos are a means for me to connect with my heritage? In the days before the Spanish and the Americans came waltzing in, native Filipino women were graced in tattoos. Their tattoos depicted their beauty, their self-expression, their fertility, yet today, I am labeled rebel and assumed to be irresponsible for merely wanting to express the essence of who I am on my own skin.

The courtroom became an inferno.

“No! You very clearly did not hear me! I refuse to accept these titles because they are not true!” a flaming Deffinne Dant thundered.

As he inspected the crack in his nail , the prosecutor calmly countered: “Whether or not it is true hardly matters. Society has decided. You act that way and you look that way – therefore you are exactly what the label they give you describes. Now, run along into those pretty handcuffs so we can all move on with our lives.”

The dams let loose, and water came trickling down her outraged face. “No way!

No! This can’t be happening! I did nothing wrong! I’m innocent!” the accused cried hopelessly. “This has to be a dream! Arrested for not succumbing to a fabrication?

RIdiculous!”

Deffinne Dant closed her eyes with vigor and determinedly repeated to no one in particular, “I wish this wasn’t true! I wish it changed! I wish this wasn’t true! I wish it changed!”

“Keep telling yourself that, honey. Click your heels together too, you might end up back in Kansas.”

There was chaotic chatter once again as the subjugated woman was lead out the doors. Judge then bellowed to the courtroom: “Order in the Court! We shall commence with the next an hour after lunch. Let’s just hope t won’t be as loud.

Shame, Deffinne Dant would have made a good lawyer.” TC

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LITERARY

Half a Ghost Kyn Noel Pestano

behind me, six people I’ve known for ten years, in front four I’ve known for seven. the respondent asks, “how many dead?” behind me, four in front of me, two “in combat?”, yes “and how are you holding up?” a decade is not enough to know if you’ll cry when someone gets shot in the head, but it’s enough to gauge the depth of a wound in the front lines a day is a year, a strong enough house a paradise, a guided bomb a white dove, as if the god we served proclaimed his love to us, as we baptized ourselves in our blood.

so how lucky i am to write their eulogies, to only buy flowers and hold my sobs as friends turn into heroes, tombstones, and watch caskets as they go home blanketed and warmed by the flag they died for. today, I’m drinking beer, enjoying the last of my cigarettes, telling family back home that I’m still here. i throw away the lighter, and sleep for two hours before waking up to write new eulogies. i apologize to the ghosts around me, and continue writing for future ones, and myself. TC

today, doves flew past our paradise, as three new bodies were baptized a block away from me, but we tell ourselves He loves us, He just works in mysterious ways.

Illustration by Charlene Grace Tan

NOVEMBER 2017 | Vol. 5 No. 3

http://todayscarolinian.net

LITERARY

Today’s CAROLINIAN

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THE MACHINE MAN COMETH Ynaro San Juan Illustration by Phoemela Delos Santos Dear Diary, I fear the next few days will be my last.

The machine men get closer every day, and though I know it impossible, I feel as if I can hear the whirring of their engines and the creaking of their pistons every night before I to bed.

The machine men came on ships, from the ruined lands of the west.

I say men as if they were kin of ours, but if nothing else is sure we know that they are not. They possess strange and terrible powers beyond our understanding, powers that even the ancient digital libraries of the Wiki have no answer for.

They came in different forms, swapping between them like changing clothes. Sometimes they were like us in form but looked as if they were composed entirely of steel swords and machine guns and spat out hailstorms of bullets, other times they took the form of giant scrambling mechanical spiders, each as big as a house. The most feared form of them, though, was that of a great metal bird of prey which rained down hellfire on a farm before one could raise their head to the sky. They had a machine for every conceivable task, machines that were beautiful in motion for all their composition of blunt plates and gears and cabling.

The greatest hosts and weapons mankind amassed could only slow them. The mightiest fortresses of the time were quickly overrun or shelled to rubble by machine artillery. Man’s defenses were quickly subverted and turned against us by the machine horde.

Three decades of pitiful resistance has done little to halt their neverending march. Now where the machine men walk, no more news comes out. Our scouts who do survive tell tales of lands pockmarked with craters and ruins, extermination camps set up by the machines to optimize our genocide, and the sky blotted out by black miasmas of poisons and chemicals unleashed by the machine army upon our world.

Though it be defeatism to say, only a blind fool could truly deny that the end of humanity is nigh. Even if the machine men were driven off tomorrow by some great miracle, the damage they have caused to our world is too extensive. The machines have polluted our air with their toxins. There is no more fertile soil and the ground has become cursed earth from the bombs. If we do die by the machines this year, then I fear that we will choke or starve to death the next when the stores finally run— The watchman calls. I must go.

They are here i can See the smoke

Truly it mesmerized us all, this fluidity of identity. They exploited this ruthlessly, kept us fascinated with their art, distracting us with babbles and trinkets, extracting concessions as they slowly and surely drew their plans against us. By the time our forefathers understood the product of their first foundry, it was too late.

Machine men of every conceivable type poured out of warehouses from the western lands, weapons that fought with no man wielding them, each alone the equal of an army. They killed every living thing they found and as one, marched outwards in every direction, a dark army of fire and iron bent solely on our annihilation.

Hear the clanking they— THE WEST TOWER HAS EXPLODED THE TEMPLE BELLS ARE RINGING THE WALLS HAVE BEEN BREACHED BEWARE, BEWARE THE MACHINE MAN COMETH TC

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Today’s CAROLINIAN

NOVEMBER 2017 | Vol. 5 No. 3

COMICS

A Trip to OSA

by LOST

First Week

by Charlene Tan

HOROSCOPE ARIES

CANCER

LIBRA

CAPRICORN

Ayaw’g sugot na di ka makaligo kada adlaw.

Sige ka, manimaho jud kag duga. Invest sad gamay ug sabon bisag Perla White ha? Aron halinon pud ka ni crush.

Magdecide ka na maglowkey karon sem kay dapat najud ka mugraduate. Di naka mukuyog sa laag sa imo friends kay sa coffee shops na ka magtambay. Ayaw KJ oy mahurot jud imong allowance ana.

d

Katong teacher nga nihagbong nimo last sem, under nasad ka niya sa? Katong imong ka-char2x nga “technically exclusive but no label yet,” nakakita ug lain sa? Katong time to sleep nga imong giexpect, wa nimo nakuha sa? Nakita ni nako tanan sa akong bolang crystal last year pa.

Friend, don’t lose hope no matter what happens. Don’t worry, December will be good to you. December 2050.

a

Lucky Color: Lactacyd White

Lucky Color: Kapeng Barako Black

g

j

Lucky Color: Sapatos ni Jollibee yellow

Lucky Color: N/A wa kay swerte for the next 8 weeks

TAURUS

LEO

SCORPIO

AQUARIUS

b

Mapansin jud ni crush imong newly rebonded bagsak na bagsak hair. Kiligon ka slight. Igat sad. Human magtext2 dayun mo. Ayeeee!

Pero ayaw kalimti imong studies kay hasta kana mabagsak niya.

e

Naay muuli sa inyoha rong gabii nga nagbitbit ug McDo nga take out. Ma-excited ka magdinner. Inig abli nimos box kay pancit ra diay toh ug lumpia---sobra pag lunch.

h

Sa kataas sa imong pride, gusto nimo langit ka yuta siya. Kahoy siya, unggoy ka. Pagsorry na kaw, magbuwag niya mo.

Naa jud kay kablock na chansing kaayo, pakiligon ka niya ug taman. Ikaw sad kay dakong Cebuanang padala. Luh! Undangi na dzai kay kapila na raba ka na-hopia in love.

Lucky Color: Hopia sa Tian Seng Purple

Lucky Color: Tag-20 nga rice sa McDo white

k

Lucky Color: Orangutan Orange

Lucky Color: Tres Si Me Red

GEMINI

VIRGO

SAGGITARIUS

PISCES

c

Nakadungog ka nga gitagaan si Pope Francis ug Lamborghini pag November 15. Of course, kay gikapoy na man jud kag skwela, imong gishift imong life goals: from marry a rich person to become the pope.

f

Magsugod nag grow imong mga uban, beshie. Ang first nga imong makit-an this week kay uban nga naa sa imong kilay. Kakamake up mo yan, eh.

Absent lang sa imong next class nya lingkod somewhere public. Didto nimo ma-meet imong soulmate. Didto sad ka nagtambay pagtext sa imong classmate nga nag pop quiz mo worth 100 points. Absent pa more.

Ayaw na sigeg pabadlong sa imong mamshie ug papshie kay mahal raba ang tuition. Paminaw na sa imong prof aron dili na “Gemma” ang tubag sa mga lisod nga pangutana sa kalibutan.

Lucky Color: I believe it’s Gemma Green

Lucky Color: Stripes sa Lamborghini ni pope gold

i

Lucky Color: On fleek nga unibrow dark brown

l

Lucky Color: Ningning sa mata ni crush blue

Today’s CAROLINIAN

http://todayscarolinian.net

PHOTO OF THE MONTH

Photographed by Franco Hermosilla

“Nature always wears the colors of the spirit.”

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Today’s CAROLINIAN

NOVEMBER 2017 | Vol. 5 No. 3

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