The Triangle Place

she lives in a triangle place...
a triangle place that housed all four of them...
all four of them who stood for each other...
another family they are not...
not a family devoid of principles...
principles they are rich with...
with nothing else to boot and to call wealth...
wealth is their having each one to lean on...
to lean on through times both light and difficult...
difficult days these past days really were...
were it not for things we hold dear...
dear as justice and compassion...
compassion could have come easy...
easy perhaps even to a point of making compassion trivial, but...
but trivial compassion is no compassion at all, and...
and even good things must come to an end, even...
even if it means knowing for the first and last time, that...
that she lives in a triangle place.

A Difficult Day

a blighted leaf must be shed...
to save a good bud -
a young plant must grow good leaves.

Sir Kiko... 'Yon Na 'Yon...

This is going to be very dolorous sir Kiko... as in very sad. But here's a survival kit for you from the 'brilliant us' you are leaving behind. (gripes)... First off... Never ever let your students there mention the very dreaded, 'are we there yet?'... haha... This is very sad but do show 'em - kids on the old vandalized block - what treasured manners we have here in 'Pinas... Make them fart through the nose if they insist! haha... Second off... Teach 'em good grammer... este, grammar. Never ever make them sound off their very annoying 'aint yer country duh Philip - pines?'... as in pine tree (grrr). You must know where you placed your eraser if they insist! haha... Third off... if they fail to submit homeworks on time, make them work out 'seventy times seven' math quizzes, projects, assignments, etc... That is to say, befriend the math teacher there from whose calculus emanates fear of all kinds... On a lighter note, should everything else fails, ball up a snow and do some dodgeball! Feel free to choose a subject... haha... Or, better yet, blog the 'brilliant us' on your Multiply for more tips.

I'm glad for you sir Kiko. God bless you always.

Science Culture

The 29th Annual Scientific Meeting spearheaded by the National Academy Science and Technology - which was held last Wednesday and Thursday, took on the theme, "Building a Science Culture in the Philippines". Yes, that was the theme with which they sought to anchor a very important problem - 'How do we sell science?'. It was a very fruitful scientific meeting of course. I thought that perhaps two gazillion thought-bullets were fired during the two-day meeting.

The speakers were all brilliant. Ms. Cheche Lazaro spoke about what role the media can play in making science palatable to the common tao. She noted a thoughtful observation of the linguistic situation of science being so ivory towerish - one that is understood only by the likes of Dr. Dela Cruz... and never by the likes of Juan Dela Cruz. For which reason, science has logically become the antithesis... the anti-gravity of everything that is fun and exciting. I thought that perhaps I am most guilty of this practice of rendering the teaching of science with the sophistication of scientific technicality. But I also think that perhaps I am justified in my belief that if science is to be appreciated, then it must be appreciated for what it is... a highly technical subject that draws inspiration from its mathematical exactness. Majority in the meeting though, thought otherwise... And I think that's good.

Academician Bernido was very inspiring on his talk about how to make the teaching of Physics fun and exciting. Yes, the buzzword it seems during the entire meeting is how to make science and scientific interactions 'fun and exciting'. I thought that perhaps, their school's 'no homework policy' is itself already fun and exciting enough to the students. I wonder though if that policy is going to work for Bereans. Opposition to this policy was of course rightly fired by a representative of Ateneo's Math Department whose policy is to give daily homeworks. There's more of course to Dr. Bernido's talk which centered on the development in the students of a high level of creativity.

So how do we build a culture of science in the Philippines?

The scientific meeting of course can only offer so much... but much still remain as regard the manner and plan with which to get this campaign started. As one philosopher-speaker in the meeting asked, 'What do you think?'. If two gazillion thought-bullets were fired during that two-day meeting, at least two have managed to hit the target. One - that science is the least popular subject among the common tao, and Two - that science has to be made to look sexy for the same population of common tao to eventually get to appreciate science's discourse. Again, what do you think"

Fr. Nebres was the keynote speaker and he's all for the belief that if science is to be made a culture in the Philippines then we start with a population of thinking citizens. Now, what do you think?

Mindless

Nervous hands tightly gripped on cold tongs

Swirling a test tube, then another

Careful not to point the orifice at anyone

Mindful of the swirling, the glass should not break.

Curious eyes watched at the substance

Inside the glass colors are a-changin’

Bubbles formed, gases evolved

Mindful of the changes, the shifting must be seen.

Chemical change has taken place

The lifeless glassware has animated life

The molecules are already restless

Mindful still is the observer.

The molecules and the heat mixed

Vaporization has become even more profuse

Very gradually heat moved the molecules

Away from the tube…

…till the tube -

breaks on the hand.