Tag: September 30, 2012

PARALUMAN vocalist Marie Madeline Ramboyong seems to have it all, a singer and an artist rolled into one. But the Advertising Arts alumna admitted that she had always been very shy growing up.

Known to her friends as Madz, she first joined Paraluman during her freshman year in college when a friend told her that the band was looking for a female vocalist. Timid and unsure of herself back then, Madz mustered her courage to sing in front of the three band members. She sang “Soon” by Moonpools and Caterpillars, the only song they all knew that had brought them all together. Instantly, she was recruited to the band.

DESPITE proposed amendments, the Church remains opposed to the Reproductive Health (RH) bill.

“In the first place, we do not favor the decision to come into amendments because we go back into our original stand that we do not accept the bill at all. We want the bill to be junked,” Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), told the Varsitarian in a phone interview.

“I open at the close.”

This was the engraved message on the Golden Snitch that Dumbledore gave Harry Potter. The snitch contained the third and final Deathly Hollow: the Resurrection Stone. It meant that Harry would only be able to open the snitch if he realized the consequence of fulfilling his mission—he needed to die to destroy Voldemort.

For several years, my King has given me challenges—rather, failures —to make me fit for this testimonial. The time came when I realized I was ready to face any trial. I “opened at the close.”

THE FOUNDER of Pro-Life Philippines, Sis. Pilar Verzosa, passed away after a massive storke last Sept.9 at De La Salle University (DLSU) Medical Center.

She died 15 days before her 68th birthday.

One of Verzosa’s projects in Pro-Life Philippines was the Pregnancy Counselling Hotline, which offers emotional and spiritual assistance to women with unwanted pregnancies, abandoned by the child’s father, orafraid to inform their parents of their situation.

THE ROAD to learning the craft of writing is paved with countless roadblocks. One must be able to get past through them. And there are no shortcuts.

The panelists for the Varsitarian’s eighth Fiction workshop held Sept. 8 to 9, called on budding writers to embrace the arduous process of re-reading, rewriting, and revision to master the craft of writing.

“[You can] only learn writing the hard way. There are no shortcuts,” said Sarge Lacuesta, author of the short story collection, “White Elephants: Stories,” which won the National Book Award in 2005.

POPULAR literature can be a springboard for readers to have a deeper appreciation of canonical works and scholarly literature, said Nida Ramirez during the first USTingan series of the year hosted by the UST Center for Creative Writing Center and Literary Studies last Sept. 22 at the Tanghalang Teresita of the Benavides Building.

The revived creative writing center has returned with its first round-table discussion that focused on the topic “What is popular literature?”.

WHEN Johannes Gutenberg invented the moveable-type printing press, the transfer of knowledge and intellect became faster and easier, and the world became everyone’s alternate, portable reality.

Fast forward to a whole new era of digital media, Gutenberg’s dream of a handheld world took on more compact forms. In this generation of laptops and palm readers, it seems as if writing and publishing have lost its bravado, but apparently, this is not entirely so.

DINALUHAN ng mga guro, estudyante, at alagad ng sining ang “Pambansang Kumperensiya sa Wika” at ang “SAWIKAAN: Mga Salita ng Taon 2012” noong Setyembre 20 hanggang 22 sa Ateneo de Manila University.

Ang una at ikatlong araw ng komperensiya ay inilaan para sa mga panayam at workshop tungkol sa iba’t ibang kasalukuyang isyu ng pagtuturo—ang papel ng wikang Filipino sa K to12, mga reporma sa pagtuturo ng Filiipino, at mga hamon sa produksiyon ng bagong materyales pang-edukasyon.

Sa ikalawang araw naman ng komperensiya, inilunsad ang SAWIKAAN: Mga Salita ng Taon 2012. Isa-isang inilahad ng magkakatunggali ang kanilang lahok na salita.

PAANO kung naging bihasa ka na sa sining ng pagkawala at hindi ka na muling makababalik pa sa iyong nilisang mundo?

Isinalarawan ng librong “Kasunod ng 909” (2012, UST Publishing House) ni Edgar Calabia Samar, isang kuwentista at propesor ng Ateneo de Manila University, ang marubdob na sining ng pagkawala at ang mayamang kasaysayan ng mga mito at alamat sa bansa.

Ayon kay Samar, ang kaniyang akda ay isa sa “trilogy” o ang mga tatlong sunod-sunod na nobela na kaniyang isinulat ngunit hindi magkakaugnay.

“Trilogy sila—ang ‘Walong Diwata ng Pagkahulog,’ ang ‘Kasunod ng 909’, at ang isa pang nobelang aking ginagawa—dahil ang kanilang pamagat ay may mga numero,” ani Samar sa Varsitarian.

MAPA-LUPA man o mapa-himpapawid, kayang-kayang magbigay ng kaalaman ng Unibersidad.

Noong Disyembre 1933, bago pa ang Ikalawang Digmaang Pandaigdig, unang ipinahayag sa Varsitarian ni Fr. Juan Labrador, dating secretary-general, ang pagbubukas ng isang kurso sa pagmimina.

Binuo ni Labrador ang isang komite upang gawin at suriin ang kurikulum ng naturang kurso na hango sa mga unibersidad sa Amerika at Europa.

Matapos itong ianunsiyo sa publiko, marami ang humingi ng catalogues ng programa at binalak na ito ang kuning kurso sa kolehiyo.