homework, an update

its thursday and the second week of classes is almost over...
yep, its been a long time since i last updated, save for the pictures, the new layout and the article about my major.
(my hands are freezing, its soooo coooold in here) im up here at Abode, an internet cafe - is that the right term?- in the up campus, well near the gate that is.
i've only had 3 hours of sleep, i'm hungry and i have ballroom class in an hour.

the semester is just starting and i already feel as if the work is as high as my knees.
i guess its because of the subjects i'm taking this sem - well as compared to last sem, which was alot lighter in load (15 units) an whoohoo! lucky me, i computed my average to be 1.45 (those who dont understand, in UP 1 is the highest grade and 5 is the failing grade, 3 is passing) and is in the US (university scholar better known as chancellor list). but i'm not yet sure, i havent really seen my name on the list.

my subjects this sem are :
2 major subjects: DEVC 134 and 140 (ok people, remember this when you read my blog: DEVC stands for development communication, which is my course and college, ok?) 134 is about telecommuications - which i'm actually doing an assignment for while writing this- and 140 is basic photography! whoohoo! i'm really exited about this subject! i really want to learn how to take good pictures! and hopefully by the end of the sem i will post some of my exercises here if i can. the thing is DEVC 140 takes alot of time and effort (matrabaho ang subject na ito, kaya kailangan magsikap kumuha ng magandang ... photograph).
i also have 1 technical course: ZOO 1 (general zoology), and yes i'm going to disect a toad- very much different than what we had in 2nd yr HS! seems interesting enough to me as trivia on radio shows. funny thing is my professor is my uncle, but doesnt guarantee that ill pass though, have to work hard for it. memorizing animal parts is just not my forte. (ah! why did i take sci com in the first place?! because of the things in the article below, read it)
i've got a social science elective this sem , the only one out of the 3 electives us sci com majors get to choose - the other 2 were already picked for us, kailangan daw namin - and i think to myself, why in the world did i pick POSC 112?! its the Politics of Development, that's why i think i need it to become a better development communicator. but, presently, my dreams of woring for the UNDP and others like are crumbling...
first day, i wanted to smack myself for not reading up on my DEVC 10 notes, now i'm drowning in the book Development as Freedom by Amartya Sen - its our first reference , we have to read the whole book and there are 4 others next in line, Sen's thought is good though, but it is so abstract - i'm having trouble understanding his non-techniocal literature, but that's just me.
yes, the subject that kept me up, but thats mostly my fault because i didnt read the chapter i was assigned to at once - as i said, i'm having a difficult time- and i was supposed to report on it this morning, lucky me the dicussion took long. but i was ready - stayed up till 5 to take notes on it and had a lot of help from my systems analyst father -thanks dad :). the extension gives me more time to really understand what i'm going to report next tuesday.
in a class of 19, i'm the only sophomore among juniors and seniors, and foreigners - this means no offense, because its not the point- (thinks again why she took that subject in the first place) i dunno, i feel... intimidated. puts pressure on me, for example i'm the first one to report-being 1st in the class list (see why i'm so desperate to give a good report). in class, i feel... ignorant. i just listen to the intelligent discussions, agree, sometimes dont, but i cant seem to make an intelligent comment or join the discussion. though it is ok to give stupid answers or ask stupid questions, because it is all part of learning. and believe me i am interested , that is why i took the subject, i want to learn, but (i guess id rather like to listen to their view points than mess the discussion up with my comments). i guess i've dropped my oppinions for politics since...i dont remember. this is a perfect exercise for me, well thats how i should look at it.
(thinks how elaine and april are doing-both are political science majors)
ive got 2 GE (the subjects everyone takes) courses: ENG 2 (college writing) which is a paper factory -you get what i mean- so that means alot of time to thinking of first paragraphs and research, and the other is NASC5 (environmental biology) which seems alright....

its obvious that i'm rushing, i have a clas in 30 minutes- oh yes PE- and i still have to go home and change into a skirt and sandals.
so thats my rantings for today....
why cant i find anything on my assignment....?

my 15 minutes of fame?

this is the clipping of the Philippine STAR issue that published our picture when we went on uor field trip for DEVC20. just in case you didnt see it. it was in page c3 last september 18 - i seem exited, but hey you only get 15 minutes of fame, right?
Posted by Hello

muni muni sa MAJOR

so this upcomming sem magsisimula na kami mag-major. 4 ang mga majors na pwedeng makuha ng BS DevCom students: DevJorn(Development Journalism), ComBroad (Community Broadcasting), EdCom (Educational Communication) and SciCom (Science Communication).

ang major ko? SCICOM...

and here's an article i wrote about it. i wrote this for our DEVC 20 newsletter last sem :)

Department of Science Communication
      It’s the youngest among the College of Development Communication (CDC) departments, but that does not mean it’s any less competent.

History Book
      The Department of Science Communication (DSC) was made as a separate department of the CDC in academic year 1998-1999. At that time only 11 students first graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Science in Development Communication major in Science Communication (SciCom), but this was back to back with another course. Those students graduated with what can technically be called a double major. “So, noong panahon namin, noong undergraduate pa kami, you could take up SciJourn, SciEd or SciBroad,” recalls Ma’m Mia Cabral, instructor of the DSC. Eventually SciCom was separated as a major on its own.
      Before SciCom became a department, it began as one Subject. Dr. Juan Jamias proposed DEVC 263 which was offered for graduate students. In academic year 1991-1992, the first three SciCom courses were offered. These were DEVC 50 (Introduction to Science Communication), DEVC 150 (Scientific and Technical Information Processing) and DEVC 263 was offered via distance mode at the UP Open University.
      The DSC has come a long way since then. In academic year 2002-2003, in the 5th year of SciCom as a department, SciCom graduates totaled 97, which is a lot more than the 11 who graduated on SciCom’s 1st year.
Currently, 126 DevCom students are SciCom majors, the second most in number to EdCom.
      SciCom is an important field in Development Communication (DevCom). According to Ma’m Mia, “The College of Development Communication is the only academic institution formally offering SciCom as a major.” Also, she stresses that SciCom is not media based in the sense that you don’t limit yourself to one medium in particular, but the media used must depend on the audience and their need.

Lesson No. 1
      Dr. Juan Jamias is the main proponent of Science Communication. At first he called it Scienctific Communication. This is defined in DEVC 50 classes as, “Scientific Communication includes the activities in producing, disseminating and using information from the time the scientist gets the idea for his/her research until the research results become part of scientific knowledge (Garvey, 1980).” Due to controversies in the title, it evolved into Science Communication which is, “The communication of the product, content, and processes of science to the various publics with the purpose of promoting development (CDC, 2000).” But this is not the only definition of SciCom for it has many definitions. Ma’m Mia adds a few points: It’s not just about popularization, but is also communicating to various publics, not just the general public. Prof. Ongkiko and Dr. Flor cite Dr. Jamias in their book Introduction to Development Communcation, “science communication’s function is to bring about innovation.” In his book Writing for Development, Dr. Jamias says that “understanding aims to enable people to make reasoned decisions of scientific information communicated through the mass media and other channels.”

The SciCom Major
      Gone were the days where SciCom was just combined with other majors, now it is a specialization on its own. The thing that makes SciCom majors different from the other majors is that they are grounded on the basic sciences. The technical courses that aretaken up by SciCOm majors were carefully chosen by the department to give them that kind of edge.
      Ma’m Mia mentions the competencies expected of a SciCom major:
1. A Science Communication major should be able to reflect critically upon and articulate issues in science and technology.
2. He or she should be able to communicate the content and process of science to diverse audiences, meaning scientists, academicians, R and D institutions, people, extension workers and the general public.
3. A Science Communication major should also be able to use information technology as tools for communicating the processes and content of science.
4. Trainings undertaken by a Science Communication major: competencies in information management, information storage and retrieval, knowledge management.
5. Well grounded in theory and also practice of Development Communication.
      The list of Technical courses provides a section which lists the recommended course for SciCom majors. And this semester, just in time for the Plan of Study, the department came up with a longer list of courses SciCom majors can take. This is posted at the department, on the wall fronting the Infotru. SciCom majors cannot take some course which other majors can take, like economics, because the goal is for them to be grounded on science courses.
      However, the implementation of the REGP posed some problems not only for the department, but also for the whole college. “Before the REGP was implemented we were able to offer our students higher technical courses,” says Ma’m Mia. Students under the old curriculum were required to take basic courses of technical courses. “But then with the REGP…di nyo na lang kailangan siyang itake. Pero prerequisite nga siya ng hundred-level courses. Ginawa na lang namin, we elevated the basic technical courses into a technical course.” Unfortunately the SciCom majors under the new curriculum would have a less intensive training in a particular field. But what is important is that they have adequate grounding on the basic sciences. “You wont be able to go deeper into the course, but then you still have the necessary skills, the necessary technical foundations that a Science Communication or generally as a Development Communication student needs to have, so ok din lang.”
      Job opportunities are a big consideration in choosing a major. Don’t think that SciCom has a few. There are 6 areas for job opportunities for Science Communication graduates listed by the department. According to Ma’m Mia, these are:
1. Government
2. Non-Government Organizations
3. Corporate
4. Academe
5. Media
6. Business

Services
      The DSC has 3 functions as part of the university, these are Teaching – instruction, Research and Extension. The department is currently conducting research on the knowledge management practices, processes of the Los Banos science community. Extension activities would be creating modules, facilitating seminars and other extension mateials. The Infotru is a service unit where students especially SciCom majors taking SciCom subjects with laboratory can use the facilities of the Infotru for free.

The People
      Dr. Ma. Theresa Velasco is currently the department chair. Faculty include Dr. Cleofe Torres, Sr. Remi de Leon, Ms. Mia Cabral and affiliate faculty, Dr. Alexander Flor, Dr. Navarro, and Dr. Lumanta. From the Infotru there is Ms. Lagrimas Ercia, known as Tita Anning is also part of SciCom.