Campus Journ
In spite of having studied in a course that left little room for non-programming interests, I managed to keep hold of one of my prime passions in life — campus journalism. While I’ve already grudgingly accepted the fact that journalism is not a realistic career choice for me in the future, I’ve certainly enjoyed my time spent with five school publications:
College | High School | Grade School
College
The UP Parser
“We don’t just write programs; we write.”
My most recent passion was The UP Parser, the Official Student Publication of UP Diliman’s Department of Computer Science. Parser is the first and foremost department-based publication in the College of Engineering (est. 1999). After several years of slumber, it was resurrected in July 8, 2004 with yours truly as its Editor-in-Chief, with Ia by my side as Associate Editor.
During my tenure, Parser released seven issues, with more or less a total circulation of 3000 copies. The paper also distinguished itself from the rest of UP Diliman’s publications by coming in four varieties, namely the print circulation, bulletin board version, email newsletter, and the website. You can find my editorials here.
Parser hit its stride when we started to release “Parser Bigtime” issues — tabloid-sized (with the -sized, mind you) editions that required monstrous marketing effort to publish. Believe it or not, we started with the “yellow book” Parser, stapled A4 paper folded in the middle, photocopied inside the Department office. (I still remember the machine we used — Ricoh Aficio. Sadly, he/she conked out just before we graduated.) The Department, being government-subsidized, had no funds to offer, so we stuck it out with the small editions for two issues.
It is just human nature to ask for more, and that’s what we gave the Department — a bigger, better Parser. Just two issues after the publication’s rebirth, we braved the towers of Ortigas (and a whole lot more) to give our readers “Parser Bigtime”. The first two tabloid-sized issues were in black and white. Unsatisfied, we intensified our marketing efforts and managed to publish two more issues in full color. For us that was an achievement. After all, we were just a department-based newspaper with no official funding, and yet our twenty-strong staff published issues of high quality.
And we’re not just talking about superficial things such as paper size and full-color here — The UP Parser was simply a good publication that delivered the good news. As one of our many taglines go, Parser is the home of the best programmer- journalists. From the technical aspects of newswriting to layout, from serious opinions to the lighter side of CS life, and everything in between, we are proud to say the Parser was an exemplary publication.
We ended our Parser tenure with a bang — the merger of the CS Week SouvProg and a special edition of The UP Parser, published for Silver Flame, the Department of Computer Science’s 25th anniversary. Check out the pretty, glossy cover. Expensive? Definitely. That’s why it’s classified as “limited edition”, hehe.
If you’re interested in the layout and graphics aspects of Parser, visit Ia’s Parser page on Stellify. Most people know her now as a web designer, though her ‘other’ skills came to the fore in her two years with Parser. Ia had a heavy hand in the paper’s layout. I can only express admiration (and envy) for her taming of Adobe InDesign and Photoshop.
The Engineering Logscript
The second of my college newspapers was The Engineering Logscript, the Official Student Publication of UP Diliman’s College of Engineering. Logscript, as it is popularly known, is the oldest college publication in the whole of UP Diliman. Under EIC Byron Bruno, I first fulfilled the role of Literary Editor, then News Editor.
After Byron’s term, I was urged to apply for EIC and take the editorial exam. After serious consideration, I (un)fortunately chose not to apply, so I can focus on Parser and other student org positions.
High School
The Science Scholar
“In Search of the Untarnished Truth”
The Science Scholar is the Official English Paper of the Philippine Science High School (PSHS) Main Campus, and is the counterpart of Ang Lagablab (Official Tagalog Paper). There, I received the best training and advice from Mss. Anna Oblepias, Aida Guimarie, and Leah Casela, paving the way for my unexpected triumphs in two press conferences. I was the News Editor of the SciScho (informal name), with Ralph Bulatao as the EIC.
Dalumat
Yours truly served as a member of the Editorial Staff of the annual Literary Magazine of the PSHS. Dalumat 8 carried the theme “Tag-ulan, Tag-araw” and featured some of the best English and Tagalog works by Pisay students. Aside from editorial duties, I pitched in two short stories — the Tagalog one I’m seriously retooling, the English one I’ve already filed under “Senseless Works” for being “too flowery” and childish.
Grade School
The Pegasean / The Trobadour
A long, long time ago in the Lourdes School of Quezon City (LSQC), I served as the News Editor of the Official Publication of the Grade School Department, which experienced a name-switch midway through my residence. Close friend Terry Ridon was then EIC, with Ms. Monique Querol-Sevilla imparting the priceless knowledge that helped me clinch my first press conference win.
“Pegasean” hails from the Pegasus, the mythical creature (not that notorious building on Quezon Avenue) that so gracefully adorned our gym.
