Last January 2007, the University of the Philippines High School had an activity called “KNOW YOUR SCHOOL DAY” or K.Y.S.D. as it is called by the UPians. This activity is very important for the teachers because they can rest for a day or two of teaching the students new lessons. So, if the teachers are going to rest for a day or two, are the classes will be suspended for a day or two? The answer is NO. There will still be classes on the said days. So, if that’s the case, who take charge of the classes? The classes will still be managed not by the teachers but by the students of the UP High School. By this, the students were encouraged to apply on the subjects they want. Not only in academics but also as guidance counselor, principal, clerk, etc. Except for the positions of janitor or the canteen in-charge.

      The students who will apply for a subject must get an application form from the faculty. Then, fill up the application thoroughly and neat. Next, see the subject adviser you are applying for an interview. After you had an interview with the teacher, he/she will tell you if are qualified for the position you are applying for. If you are qualified, you can now start your teaching.

      I have many experiences about our activity called K.Y.S.D. First, I applied for the subject Geometry but due to a very hectic schedule, I didn’t have a time for an interview with my teacher so the slot was given to another student. I am very sorry for myself because I know that I am good in Geometry and I applied for it so that I can be given extra points in our Geometry class. I have no choice but to sit on my armchair and wait for the student teacher positioned to our Geometry class. I realized then that it is okay if I am just only sitting on my armchair because I can relax myself and I can still be away from stress. But, it is more okay if I am the student teacher so that I can earn more points on our class
      Our student teacher of Geometry last K.Y.S.D. was my friend from II-Palma. She was a little shy because she is not very close with II-Benton. One important skill you can also get from being a student teacher is that you can learn how to interact with the other students and you’ll feel how to be respected by the other students. You will also feel how busy a teacher is. Then, you will also realize that how too much effort the teachers exert for a day or two of bringing some important details and developing a student’s mind.

      I am very proud of my teachers even if they didn’t teach me hard because I can see how hard their work is. I, as a UP student, am very thankful that there are teachers willing to teach poor but deserving students. We, as a student, should always be very proud of what teachers are.

“Love is a fallacy” (A reaction to Max Schulman’s “Love is fallacy”)

 
  Have you read the story written by Max Schulman entitled “Love is fallacy”? Do you find it very interesting? What are the characteristics shown in each character? What can you conclude or what lessons can you get from the story? I can now answer these questions because I have read the story. So, here’s my reaction about Max Schulman’s “Love is a fallacy”.

    I find the story very interesting because it leaves me with man questions. Just like, what happens to Petty Belows after he gave Polly Espy to the narrator? What is the connection between going steady of Poly with Petty and Petty’s raccoon coat? These are just questions from my mind after I read the story. For me, I think that the author titled the story “Love is a fallacy” because for the author, a love is a fallacy because he thought that love is an incorrect conception resulting to an incorrect reasoning. This is because many people think that love is always true but the author found out that there are some aspects which love is a fallacy. For example, the narrator thought that love is true and is present in each person, which is actually true, so that the thought that if he love someone, he can easily get the love that he want the girl to pay him in return. But, the narrator found out that the girl he loves has no feelings for him. So he thought that love must be a fallacy.

    Here’s my reaction to the characters of Max Schulman’s “Love is a fallacy.”



THE NARRATOR



    The narrator is a very good teacher, for me, because he taught Polly Espy many fallacies that involve logic. The reader of the story can also learn about many fallacies that involve logic in this story. Now, back in the narrator, he is very intelligent, his mind is powerful just like a dynamo, keen, perspicacious, as it was stated in the story. He loves Polly Espy because he knows that she has most of the characteristics of a perfect wife for a successful lawyer. Except for one characteristic - her intelligence is not so good like the narrator’s intelligence. The narrator wants to be a good lawyer someday. He would do anything just to get Polly from his college friend and at the same time his board mate - Petty Belows. He gave Petty a raccoon coat that he’s been longing to have. But, in exchange for his raccoon coat, the narrator wants Petty to give Polly to him. This only shows that he’ll do anything just to get the one he loves. After he taught Polly many fallacies, he ended up with sorrow because he found that Polly is getting to be steady with Petty Belows.


PETTY BELOWS



    He is a good friend of the narrator. He is also dating Polly Espy whom the narrator loves. He is brain has some kind of defective but also as good as the narrator. He wants a raccoon coat that he is been longing for. He is very determined to have a raccoon coat that he pleased the narrator to get one for him. He will give anything in exchange just to have a raccoon coat.


POLLY ESPY



    A very beautiful girl that Petty loves. She is fit for a successful lawyer according to the narrator. But, she is not that intelligent to be a lawyer’s wife. In spite of her defectiveness, the narrator loves her because for him, it is easy to make a beautiful dumb girl smart than to make an ugly smart girl beautiful. She didn’t notice the narrator’s love for her but instead, she thought that the narrator taught her many fallacies so that she’ll be aware of the fallacies around her. But the real intention of the narrator is to be loved by her.





    At the end of the story, you will find out that Polly is going to be steady with Petty because Petty has a raccoon coat. I really don’t understand what is the connection between going steady and a raccoon coat. Maybe, Petty asked Polly if she wants to get steady with him and maybe she answered that she will be steady with Petty if he get a raccoon coat. In general, all I can say is that it is a very unusual and very rare story of love. That’s my reaction about Max Schulman’s “Love is a fallacy”. I hope you will enjoy reading the story

A Summary of Max Schulman’s “Love is Fallacy”

Cool was I and logical. Keen, calculating, perspicacious, acute, and astute—I was all of these. Take, for example, Petey Bellows, my roommate at the university. Emotional type. Unstable. Impressionable. Not, however, to Petey.

One afternoon I found Petey lying on his bed with an expression of such distress on his face that I immediately diagnosed appendicitis. "Raccoon," he mumbled thickly.

"Raccoon?" "I want a raccoon coat," he wailed.

I perceived that his trouble was not physical, but mental. "Why do you want a raccoon coat?"

"I should have known it," he cried, pounding his temples. Like a fool I spent all my money for textbooks, and now I can't get a raccoon coat."

"Can you mean," I said incredulously, "that people are actually wearing raccoon coats again?"

"All the Big Men on Campus are wearing them. "In the library," I said, naming a place not frequented by Big Men on Campus.

He leaped from the bed and paced the room. "I've got to have a raccoon coat," he said passionately. "I've got to!"

"Petey, why? Raccoon coats are unsanitary. They shed. "You don't understand," he interrupted impatiently. "I'd give anything for a raccoon coat. Anything!"

My brain, that precision instrument, slipped into high gear. "Anything?" "Anything," he affirmed in ringing tones.

I stroked my chin thoughtfully. It so happened that I knew where to get my hands on a raccoon coat. I refer to his girl, Polly Espy.

I had long coveted Polly Espy. Let me emphasize that my desire for this young woman was not emotional in nature. I wanted Polly for a shrewdly calculated, entirely cerebral reason.

I was a freshman in law school. I was well aware of the importance of the right kind of wife in furthering a lawyer's career. The successful lawyers I had observed were, almost without exception, married to beautiful, gracious, intelligent women. With one omission, Polly fitted these specifications perfectly.

At table her manners were exquisite. I had seen her at the Kozy Kampus Korner eating the specialty of the house—a sandwich that contained scraps of pot roast, gravy, chopped nuts, and a dipper of sauerkraut—without even getting her fingers moist.

It is, after all, easier to make a beautiful dumb girl smart than to make an ugly smart girl beautiful.

"Petey," I said, "are you in love with Polly Espy?"

"I think she's a keen kid," he replied, "but I don't know if you'd call it love. Why?"

I nodded with satisfaction. Is that right?"

"I guess so. "Where are you going?" asked Petey.

"Home for the weekend." "Listen," he said, clutching my arm eagerly, "while you're home, you couldn't get some money from your old man, could you, and lend it to me so I can buy a raccoon coat?"

"Look," I said to Petey when I got back Monday morning. I threw open the suitcase and revealed the huge, hairy, gamy object that my father had worn in his Stutz Bearcat in 1925.

"Holy Toledo!" said Peter reverently. He plunged his hands into the raccoon coat and then his face. "Holy Toledo!" he repeated fifteen or twenty times.

"Your girl," I said, mincing no words.

"Polly?" he asked in a horrified whisper. "You want Polly?"

"That's right."

He flung the coat from him. "Never," he said stoutly.

I shrugged. If you don't want the be in the swim, I guess it's your business."

I sat down in a chair and pretended to read a book, but out of the corner of my eye I kept watching Petey. He was a torn man. Back and forth his head swiveled, desire waxing, resolution waning. Finally, he didn't turn away at all; he just stood and stared with mad lust at the coat.

"What's Polly to me, or me to Polly?"

"Try on the coat," said I.

He complied. The coat bunched high over his ears and dropped all the way down to his shoe tops. "Fits fine," he said happily.

I asked, extending my hand.

"It's a deal," he said and shook my hand.

I had my first date with Polly the following evening. "Gee, that was a marvy movie," she said as we left the theater. And then I took her home. "Gee, I had a sensaysh time," she said as she bade me goodnight.

I went back to my room with a heavy heart. This girl's lack of information was terrifying. I gave her a course in logic. "Polly," I said to her when I picked her up on our next date, "tonight we are going over to the Knoll and talk."

"Oo, terrif," she replied. "Logic."

"Logic," I said, clearing my throat, "is the science of thinking. Before we can think correctly, we must first learn to recognize the common fallacies of logic. "Wow-dow!" she cried, clapping her hands delightedly.

"First let us examine the fallacy called Dicto Simpliciter."

"By all means," she urged, batting her eyelashes eagerly.

"Dicto Simpliciter means an argument based on an unqualified generalization. For example: Exercise is good. Therefore everybody should exercise."

"I agree," said Polly earnestly. "I mean exercise is wonderful. "Polly," I said gently, "the argument is a fallacy. Exercise is good is an unqualified generalization. For instance, if you have heart disease, exercise is bad, not good. Many people are ordered by their doctors not to exercise. Otherwise you have committed a Dicto Simpliciter. "Next we take up a fallacy called Hasty Generalization. Listen carefully: You can't speak French. I can't speak French. Petey Bellows can't speak French. "Really?" said Polly, amazed. "Nobody?"

"Polly, it's a fallacy. The generalization is reached too hastily. "Know any more fallacies?" she asked breathlessly. I fought off a wave of despair. I was getting nowhere with this girl, absolutely nowhere. Still, I am nothing if not persistant. Listen to this: Let's not take Bill on our picnic. "A girl back home—Eula Becker, her name is. It never fails. Every single time we take her on a picnic—"

"Polly," I said sharply, "it's a fallacy. Eula Becker doesn't cause the rain. You are guilty of Post Hoc if you blame Eula Becker."

"I'll never do it again," she promised contritely. "No, Polly, I'm not mad."

"All right. Let's try Contradictory Premises."

"Yes, let's," she chirped, blinking her eyes happily.

"Of course," she replied promptly.

"But if He can do anything, He can lift the stone," I pointed out.

If there is an irresitible force, there can be no immovable object. If there is an immovable object, there can be no irresistible force. I consulted my watch. We'll have another session tomorrow night."

I deposited her at the girl's dormitory, where she assured me that she had had a perfectly terrif evening, and I went glumly home to my room. Petey lay snoring in his bed, the raccoon coat huddled like a great hairy beast at his feet. The girl simply had a logic-proof head.

Seated under the oak the next evening I said, "Our first fallacy tonight is called Ad Misericordiam."

"Listen closely," I said. "A man applies for a job. When the boss asks him what his qualifications are, he replies that he has a wife and six children at home, the wife is a helpless cripple, the children have nothing to eat, no clothes to wear, no shoes on their feet, there are no beds in the house, no coal in the cellar, and winter is coming."

A tear rolled down each of Polly's pink cheeks. "Yes, it's awful," I agreed, "but it's no argument. The man never answered the boss's question about his qualifications. Do you understand?"

I handed her a handkerchief and tried to keep from screaming while she wiped her eyes. "Next," I said in a carefully controlled tone, "we will discuss False Analogy. Why, then, shouldn't students be allowed to look at their textbooks during an examination?"

"Polly," I said testily, "the argument is all wrong. Doctors, lawyers, and carpenters aren't taking a test to see how much they have learned, but students are. "I still think it's a good idea," said Polly.

"Nuts," I muttered. "Sounds yummy," was Polly's reaction.

"Listen: If Madame Curie had not happened to leave a photographic plate in a drawer with a chunk of pitchblende, the world today would not know about radium."

"True, true," said Polly, nodding her head. That Walter Pidgeon is so dreamy. "If you can forget Mr. Pidgeon for a moment," I said coldly, "I would like to point out that the statement is a fallacy. Maybe Madame Curie would have discovered radium at some later date. "The next fallacy is called Poisoning the Well."

"Two men are having a debate. Now, Polly, think. Think hard. "It's not a bit fair. What chance has the second man got if the first man calls him a liar before he even begins talking?"

"Right!" I cried exultantly. "One hundred percent right. It's not fair. The first man has poisoned the well before anybody could drink from it. Polly, I'm proud of you."

"Pshaw," she murmured, blushing with pleasure.

Think—examine—evaluate. Come now, let's review everything we have learned."

Heartened by the knowledge that Polly was not altogether a cretin, I began a long, patient review of all I had told her. I had no idea when I would reach the light, or even if I would. It must not be thought that I was without love for this girl. Quite the contrary. Just as Pygmalion loved the perfect woman he had fashioned, so I loved mine. The time had come to change our relationship from academic to romantic.

"Polly," I said when we next sat beneath our oak, "tonight we will not discuss fallacies."

"Aw, gee," she said, disappointed.

"Hasty Generalization," said Polly brightly.

"Hasty Generalization," she repeated. I chuckled with amusement. The dear child had learned her lessons well. "My dear," I said, patting her head in a tolerant manner, "five dates is plenty. "False Analogy," said Polly promptly. I'm a girl."

The dear child had learned her lesson perhaps too well. I paused for a moment while my massive brain chose the proper words. "Polly, I love you. Please, my darling, say that you will go steady with me, for if you will not, life will be meaningless. I will wander the face of the earth, a shambling, hollow-eyed hulk."

"Ad Misericordiam," said Polly.

"Well, Polly," I said, forcing a smile, "you certainly have learned your fallacies."

"You're darn right," she said with a vigorous nod.

"And who taught them to you, Polly?"

If I hadn't come along you would never have learned about fallacies."

"Hypothesis Contrary to Fact," she said instantly.

I dashed perspiration from my brow. "Polly," I croaked, "You mustn't take all these things so literally. I leaped to my feet, bellowing like a bull. "That rat!" I shrieked, kicking up great chuncks of turf. "You can't go with him, Polly. He's a liar. "Poisoning the Well," said Polly, "and stop shouting. "All right," I said. "You're a logician. How could you choose Petey Bellows over me? Look at me—a brilliant student, a tremendous intellectual, a man with an assured future. Look at Petey—a knot-head, a jitterbug, a guy who'll never know where his next meal is coming from. Can you give me one logical reason why you should go steady with Petey Bellows?"

"I certainly can," declared Polly. "He's got a racoon coat."

What a U.P. student is not

“We are all equal in most things

but it is knowledge that makes us

different from each other”

-Aldrin Matthew G. Abao

Do you know what U.P. means? It means University of the Philippines. You always think that U.P. is the highest and the brightest school here in the nation. you might think that what kind of students are studying there? Are they nerds? Do they carry big books, studying most of the time, having no time for friends and for the self, always a loner, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. You also think that U.P. is the breeding ground for people who destabilize something and for naked runners because rallies and oblation runs were led by the U.P. students. But what if I’ll tell you some facts about what a U.P. is not. Hmm.., sounds interesting right? so here’s what a U.P. student is not. but wait, where will I start? okay, let us start from your impressions.


First, a U.P. student is not nerd or a student with these hi-grade eyeglasses. We are all normal students but actually, there are students wearing eyeglasses in school. There are students who carry big books due to their devotion to their lessons. U.P. is not a breeding ground for people who destabilize something and for naked runners but it is the breeding ground for the students who are aware of the truth and for the loyal students. A U.P. student is aware of the truth about everything because they were taught by their teachers that’s why they conduct rallies to show opposition to something that is wrong for them. A U.P. student is loyal and proud to his/her university that’s why they conduct oblation run to show their loyalty to the oblation.


A U.P. student is not boastful or discriminating other people. He/She respects everything and everyone because they respect life in general. A U.P. student is not only focused to academic lessons but they are also engaged in sports like basketball, volleyball, soccer, etc. They were also engaged in extra-curricular activities like dancing, singing, acting, etc. and being good messengers of God’s words. A U.P. student is not selfish but they share to others what they have. For example, a student who is in great need of answers for hi/her assignment is being helped by his/her classmates. Some U.P. students, honestly, are sometimes lazy like me. But you can’t deny the fact that U.P. students are intelligent, very intelligent. Sometimes, we get stressed because our daily schedules of periods are loaded with heavy units and we have many school activities. Sometimes, heavy projects were given to us that’s why students feel uninterested to do the project and laziness occurs. But no matter how many students are lazy, we always do our best to do the project.


A U.P. student is not that what you think “perfect” students because I, myself, have more to know about high school life and everything about the world. Even though our subjects were advanced than the other schools, we are all students and humans like you.

You should not treat us as the highest class of students in the nation but you should respect us because we are all students and youth of this country. We should treat each other in an equal way but always remember that there is always an exception. Always remember that we are all equal in most things but it knowledge that makes us different from each other because if Adam and Eve did not eat the fruit of the “Tree of Knowledge”, we would have the same thoughts, same mind and same lifestyle.

RAN Online: Are you hooked?

“Having fun is not bad but do it in moderate,

not in an abusive way”

Have you ever played an online game? What did you feel after you play? Was there something in you that wants you to play again? Well, for me, yes.


It was a summer break last year when I started playing this game. I admit that at first, I did not know what I am doing. I just do not understand the objectives and everything about the game. But when I went outside of the Internet cafe, I felt that I want to play again. This game is what they called RAN Online.


This game is very common to all teenagers, especially to U.P. High School second years (2006-2007). I admit that I’m hooked to it. This game is very nice because its concept is like a school or a campus. There are four campuses in this game, namely: Phoenix Campus, Sacred Gate Campus, Mystic Peak Campus and the Leonair Campus. There are four classes of students in each campus except for the Leonair Campus because the campus no longer exists due to an unexplainable accident so it lays in ruins. The four classes are the Brawler, who uses hands, feet, head, body and energy to execute a skill, an Archer, who uses different kinds of bows and arrows to defeat monsters, a swordsman who carries different kinds of blades to slash an enemy, and a shaman, who possesses magical powers with an aid of talismans and spears or sticks. Each class is divided into three types: the strength, dexterity, and intelligence. Except for the shaman who has only two types: the strength and intelligence. To know more about the game, just visit www.ranonline.com.ph.


Here’s some information about the beginning of RAN Online:


The Omen began 18 years ago. A terrifying solar eclipse engulfed the skies above Asia. From this gaping darkness, a vicious torrent of meteors hurtled down, leaving a wake of smoldering rubble and scorched earth.

Chaos and paranoia swept over Asia, forcing the rest of the world to quarantine the continent, an island onto itself.

Two years later, from this apocalyptic wreckage, a clandestine organization known only as the Sacred Financial Group ascended to power, shrouded in myth and mystery, brimming with untold wealth and influence.

The Group would found four schools, each one unique in its own way: Sacred Gate, Mystic Peak, Phoenix, and Leonair Campus.

Only the smartest, strongest, fittest students were recruited to these institutions. Yet beneath its quiet facade of learning and academia, an unsettling truth began to surface. These were no ordinary schools. Their infrastructures, rising menacingly above all others, were strange and alien in design, as if echoing an ominous, inescapable fate...

To know more about the Beginning of RAN Online, visit this site: http://ranonline.com.ph/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=9.


Here are some facts about the campuses :

Mystic Peak Campus

Mystic Peak is the second campus to be created by the Sacred Financial Group. For strategic reasons, the campus is located on the Northern area of RAN world. Although the curriculum of Mystic Peak is similar to that of the other schools, its dedication to the arts is what sets Mystic Peak apart. This classical approach has helped make Mystic Peak the most picturesque of the schools. Classrooms are surrounded by lush, verdant greens and trees, fields of blooming flowers and plants that add color and vibrancy to an already scenic campus. Stained glass windows frame the campus buildings with an air of solemn grandeur.


Phoenix Campus

Phoenix campus is the third educational institution of the Sacred Financial Group. Its campus is located in the Southern area of the RAN world. Together with the other two schools, Phoenix comprises a solid defense system against , with Phoenix catering mostly to the students of high society families. Phoenix is renowned for its advanced engineering curriculum, offering the engineers and scientists of tomorrow access to the most expensive and advanced technology, free to test out their theories and experiments.



Sacred Gate Campus

Sacred Gate Campus is the first educational institution built by the Sacred Financial Group. On the surface, all looks normal, but there are troubling undercurrents that lay beneath its design. Rumor has it that supernatural experiments are being conducted below Sacred Gate’s underground facilities. From the outside, the school’s veneer seems to reflect the Sacred Financial Group’s commitment to time-honored values, with its traditional, oriental architecture, brick-lined walkways, pagodas, florid gardens and exotic fountains.



Leonair Campus

The last of the campuses founded by the Sacred Financial Group, Leonair lays to the East, but due to a yet unexplained accident, the campus no longer exists. It lays in ruins, a haunting tomb that serves as a terrifying reminder of a reckoning long past. Strange, supernatural occurrences at the campus are being reported everyday. Some students, curious about the events surrounding the enigmatic campus, have ventured to Leonair, never to return. Those that do make it back, tell shuddering tales of a giant lion statue standing menacingly in the darkness, where trees hang withered and dead like skeletal hands, and where the surviving plant life has mutated into a savage species that prays on the humans foolish enough to venture into its path. Once proud and majestic, Leonair is no more, a black hole, where only nightmares thrive.


To know more about the campuses, just visit: http://www.ranonline.com.ph/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=45.


To get into the game, just visit: www.e-games.com.ph.


Try this game and I’m sure that you’ll enjoy it.

Now, I’m not playing too much because I’m using my money wisely and I realize that this game, honestly, is very addictive that I almost forget that I have some school stuffs to do like assignments, projects, etc. etc. etc. and I don’t have much money to please myself so I’m using my money wisely and I only play if have some free time and if I have some extra money.


There are many ways to please yourself. Like studying lessons, playing sports, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. So many ways in pleasing yourself without spending so much money. You may need not an Internet connection or go to an Internet cafe and play online games. Just stay in your house, watch T.V., and find some ways to have fun without spending so much.

Always remember that you are a child and you still depend on your parents in terms of financial status. Save money and study hard so that your parents will realize that they don’t have any mistakes in raising a kid like you. Study hard so that you will be successful in your life and you can help your family the way they help you to be a better you. Always remember that having fun is not bad but do it in moderate and not in an abusive way.

The Life in the Province

Do you still remember the first time you went in a place full of trees and other plants and animals? How do you feel living in that place? How do you feel about the environment? Is it fresh? or polluted? You can answer these questions if you have lived in a province.

I can still remember the first time I went in our province. In the house of my aunt, located at Tamiao, Bantayan Island, Cebu, I lived there for almost six years. It was so nice living there because everything is there except for money. But in spite of poverty, we can still live there happily because my relatives are there and my uncle has a farm there. My uncle is also a fisherman because we live not just so far from the seashore. Every dawn, before the sun rises up, my uncle always go fishing . After my uncle left the house, I always wake up and I don't know why. When I wake up, it is still dark but I can clearly see the sun's rays near the sea.

During six in the morning, I always take a bath and after we our breakfast, I always play and play in the farm not so far from the house. In the farm, there is a wide area of land which was divided into two parts. The first part was planted with corn while the other part was planted with "chicos trees". It was so nice wandering around the farm because the air is so fresh and you can't see any house and the sky seems so close to you. It feels like you're the only one living in this world. Every afternoon, my friends and I always play near the big "sinegwelas" tree at the back of our house. There were also banana trees all around the place. After I play, together with my cousins, we went to the well and then take a bath.

As the years passed, I didn't think of going back to Cebu City where my family lives. But one day, my brother came and told me that i should go the city because I'm turning six and they want to have my elementary there. So, I have no choice but to go with my brother in the city. When we came in our house, it is not so small but it is fit for my family.

I have so many difficulties in adjusting to my new life because I like fruits but I can't even see any fruit-bearing trees except for coconut trees. The environment, it was so noisy not like in the province. But my father promised that we will go back in our province so we went back in our province. Sometimes I think that it is better to live in the city because you can find money there but in the province, nothing will happen in your life. But if you can find money or money can be easily earned there, then why not live there?