WHEN calamity strikes, text messaging may not be a reliable tool after all.
Many students were unable to receive text messages announcing the suspension of classes last July 14 at the height of typhoon “Basyang” from the Central Student Council’s (CSC) “Infoblast” project.
“There was neither electricity nor signal,” said ;Ryan Sze, public relations officer (PRO) of the CSC and project head of Infoblast.
“Basyang” tripped the north-to-south transmission backbone of National Grid Corp. of the Philippines, cutting off power supply and knocking out signals of mobile networks.
Public Affairs Director Giovanna Fontanilla was, however, able to announce the suspension of classes over radio station DZMM at 4.a.m.
Sze said he received a text message from Secretary General Fr. Florentino Bolo, O.P., suspending classes for July 14, and relayed the announcement to other student council officers, and some 11,000 Infoblast registrants until 7 a.m.
“Infoblast worked, but the computer’s battery did not last, so information was sent to everyone through text,” said Sze.
InfoBlast is a software allowing the broadcast of text messages to subscribers of all major telecommunication firms––Globe, Smart, and Sun cellular.
“We got it (advisory) early morning of July 14. But due to signal problems which started at 6 a.m., others were not able to receive the information,” said Ryan Bulosan, PRO of the College of Education Student Council.
Education junior Vic Ejanda, said he knew of the suspension through his classmate who had called UST to inquire if classes were suspended.
“I was not able to receive the advisory from Infoblast even though I registered during enrollment,” said Ejanda.
Sze said, some students who have not received the Infoblast may have registered with incomplete numbers. Out of about 40, 000 students, there were only 11,000 successful registrants, he noted.
Announcements from the Secretary General and Office of Student Affairs are also sent through Infoblast.
Meanwhile, Bolo, in a letter sent to the Varsitarian, said announcements via UST Globe Textconnect, the “UST QUADRI” Facebook account, and CSC’s Infoblast were sent at the same time when Fontanilla announced the suspension over DZMM.
Bolo said he was not aware of how many received the message through the UST-Globe sim because at the height of the typhoon, “the services of Globe, Smart and Sun were also down.”
“Another problem was the fact that electricity was cut off in many parts of Manila and nearby provinces, thus leaving many unable to charge their phones,” Bolo said. K. N. K. C. Grafil
INCOMPLETE numbers? isang malaking kalokohan. so parang pinagregister niyo kami and wala lang pala yung registration na iyon.
dami kasing pakulo ng CSC puro kapalpakan lang naman. gusto lang nilang maramdaman sila ng tao e failed attempt naman. sus, di nga sila maramdaman ng Thomasian community e. buti pa SOCC..
Ay? Okay. Pag-kumpitensyahin ba naman daw ang CSC at SOCC? These councils should work together, not against each other. Makagawa lang ng issue o. :))
The project was just started this school year. Perfection is not existing is this world – it is only a word to define what is not imperfect. More so, lapses and failures are open-mindedly expected. A child would mostly stumble down at first walk but then rises again to continue trying. This is what CSC is continuously doing. As Thomasians, we are thought the Catholic way, and that is not to condemn people of their mistakes and failures but to motivate them to do better. Moreover, comparing two different student-bodies IN THE SAME UNIVERSITY is highly irrational and stupid. SOCC and CSC are there not to race for a crown but to compliment each other for the betterment of the University, because, after all, the crown is not made for any single PART of the University but for the University itself which representing all PARTS of it.
But paano maipapaliwanag ng CSC yung mga hindi nakaka kuha ng mga informations. If CSC is doing something, kulang pa iyon, magsesecond sem na pero same old problem pa rin. Actually, I registered twice pero hindi pa rin ako makatanggap ng mga infos.
ilan bang numbers kailangang ilagay? 14? para maging complete yung registration. dahilan!