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Minsan isang pasko, eksaktong pagkababa ko sa sasakyan at akmang magmamano pa lang kay tatay, bigla na lamang niyang kinuha bitbit kong parol. Isabit na raw namin at nang maramdaman na sa kabahayan ang simoy ng pasko.

Sa lahat ng mga proyektong ipinasa ko sa paaralan, ang parol na ‘yun ang higit na ipinagmamalaki ko. Bagaman halos nahirapan ako sa paggawa at nabawasan ang oras ng pagtulog ko, sulit naman dahil mataas na marka ang ibinigay ng guro ko.

TULAD ng romantikong konsepto ni Kupido tuwing araw ng mga puso, natatangi rin ang mga parol tuwing Pasko.

Tradisyon sa kulturang Filipino ang pagsabit ng mga parol sa kanilang mga tahanan. Ilang buwan pa lang bago ang araw ng kapanganakan ni Kristo, nagsisimula nang mamulaklak ng mga palamuti at samu’t saring parol ang bahay, gusali, at kalsada.

A COLLEGE of Commerce freshman broke the reign of Faculty of Arts and Letters students in the Rector’s Literary Award (RLA) of the 20th Annual Ustetika Awards for Literature last December 11.

THE TYPHOONS that ravaged the southern Luzon provinces earlier this month have sent us into a frenzy. No surprise there. In fact, we reacted right on cue.

It is a story with an abused plot (much like Philippine movies): disaster strikes, and we rise up united to fight off the calamity and put to rights the destruction it leaves in its wake.We do this so immediately that it almost always seems superficial and only half-sincere,

UNDOUBTEDLY, the annual Paskuhan is the University-event that most Thomasians look forward to every year. The amazing fireworks displays, sumptuous food, and up-beat music never fail to make everyone feel that the whole Thomasian community is one big family—united in all endeavors and occasions, and especially at the birth of Christ.

Interestingly, true to the spirit of Christmas as a time of giving, this year’s Paskuhan will highlight the Thomasian touch of compassionate sharing, the same manner that it did the first time, 13 years ago.

This is the seventh time that I shall be conveying my Christmas message to the whole academic community, and there seems to be always a persistent nuisance that attempts to destroy the mood of this joyous season. This persistent intruder is called crisis. Before we dare to point our finger to the so-called culprits, let us consider first how many fingers would point to ourselves. Let us rather use those fingers to strike our breast and acknowledge that we are partly responsible for the mess we are experiencing in our country.

A FEW days go a couple of typhoons wreaked havoc on several Luzon provinces, especially Quezon, where thousands died as a result of the landslides that were caused by the relentless logging in the mountains of the Sierra Madre range.

Because of these meaningless deaths, calls have been made to put a moratorium on logging, both legal and illegal. Also, there is a clamor to make illegal logging punishable by death.

What else is new?

EVEN the cutest of animals can strike fear in the hearts of men. At least health-wise.

The civet, a brown, furry, carnivorous mammal found in Asia and Africa, was discovered by Chinese experts as being responsible for the SARS epidemic that affected about 8,000 people worldwide, and ravaged airline and tourism industries.

According to the SARS Defense and Cure Scientific Group in China, the civet, the “most easily infected wild animal”, is the primary source of the Human Coronavirus which causes SARS.

IMAGINE bacteria-sized robots performing surgeries on your organs. In the future, these “nanosurgeons” will be a staple in every operating room, leaving no scars like conventional surgery does.

Nanotechnology is the development and engineering of devices which will operate at the atomic level. The “nano” prefix comes from nanometer, billionth of a meter or about 10 hydrogen atoms laid side by side.

WHAT do the Pope and the late Christopher Reeve and Ronald Reagan have in common? Aside from having become popular icons, they have bodies ravaged by diseases modern science seeks to prevent through stem cell research.

With high hopes of treating life-threatening diseases ranging from Parkinson’s to Alzheimer’s to diabetes, researchers are now hooked on harvesting stem cells or “primitive cells” that can be cultured and grown into any kind of tissue.