The PRTSCR_

THE PRTSCR_01110101 01110000 BY: UP CURSOR

August was the start of a new academic year and for freshmen to experience the new calendar. Culture shocking, isn’t it? Yet the new batch of Computer Science (CS) students did not let fate decide on a different course. The month before, cheers and laughter filled the atmosphere as these newbies of the Depart-ment of Computer Science went through a series of beginners’ preparations, or what is termed as a ‘Bootcamp’, handled by different CS organizations. Held on the last weeks of July, these young people underwent coding practices, amazing races, and fun activities. On the 26th of that month—the last day of boot-camp—was when UP CURSOR

took over. Their objective was not to give out more program-ming or more races; theirs was to have a good, special day for relaxation—and they did that through a culminating event. Specifically, the organization prepared an all-around tour of the UP Campus plus a short overview of what the org is about. A not-so-fair weather did get in the way, but it did not stop them from having the fun they deserve at the end. It was a treat for everyone. All were united, marked with faces of joy, and—although soaked with rain—enthusiastic for the coming days of their first year in the campus. It was a fun event that they surely won’t forget!

Rebirth — for the 31st anniversary of the UP CURSOR, this theme was used to symbolize a new beginning for the organization and what we want to change for the betterment of our members. This was also integrated with our vision for a more effective promotion

of computer science for technological advancement and innovation, and for a better service to our country. So to give our 31st year a headstart in fulfilling its noble dreams, we celebrated the rebirth of our organization with fun-filled activities for five days.

We called our first day, Exhibit Day, to start our ... see page B

Happiness filled the faces of public elementary students once more as Handog Kaalaman or HAGKAN Kids made its way to pupils’ schools the first semester of this year. HAGKAN Kids, now on the third year of its run, is one of the community-based events of UP CURSOR which aims to teach necessary computer knowledge for the everyday lives

of fifth and sixth grade students by holding lectures about Open Office Writer, Impress, and Calc, and Youtube, Google, and Gmail. It has a noble vision of spreading computer literacy among youth. This surely brings a light to the lives of those who are deprived of technology.

The event head for ... see page B

It may not be surprising to have waves of sports events take place almost anywhere, but they’re there for a reason—to promote unity among people in a fun way. In UP CURSOR, we let our sports events rule throughout semes-ters for the same cause.

The CURSOR Ultimate Training or CUT, handled this semester by Shemuel Nethaniah Crisang, took

its turn again last Oct 11 at the UP Sunken Garden. ... see page D

CS BOOTCAMP A hit! A WEEK OF REBIRTH ELAINEITURRALDE

HAGKAN kids turnS 3 FRANREYSAYCON

matthewLopez

sports rule the sem! janellemaximo

... anniversary week on Aug 19. To give emphasis to our theme, we used a tree—a paper mache crafted out of recycled materi-als—which we placed at the center of the Department of Computer Science (DCS) lobby. To add a little bit of spice to the exhibit, we prepared a small activity to keep members and DCS residents alike coming. Questions were posted next to the tree and on our Facebook page for each day of the CURSOR week, and all who were willing to participate wrote their answers on pieces of leaf-shaped paper hung on the tree. The questions were not serious—they were for the fun and enjoyment of all participants.

The posters were placed in the lobby together with the tree so that people would be aware of our activities for the week. We had a small “pakain” and the food was given to those who were present during the opening and cutting of the ribbon hosted and handled by our president, Emir Mercado.

The second day was called Acad Day. We had prepared to lay out two events then—CS0 and CS++. For the former affair, we had a special seminar for computer science (CS) freshmen as an overview of what they should expect from their degree program’s curriculum. Daniel Berba, a member of the organiza-tion and a third year CS student, was the speaker for the event. He tackled on how the curriculum works – what to take, what the topics are for each courses, which

are the prerequisites for particu-lar subjects, among others– and the different misconceptions about computer science.

For CS++, we held seminars for the promotion of the different areas of computer science and its promotion in other fields. During Acad Day, we had an introduction to Processing Programming Language which was delivered by Jeynald Endaya, also a member of the organization and a third year CS student. The seminar was aimed for students who already have an in depth experience with programming.

The third day was called Physical Day. During the day, our mem-bers were divided into different groups and were made to go against each other in a game of Duckpin Bowling at the UP Alumni Center. The winning team was awarded free pizza from the steering committee of the event. After the game, the team that won shared their pizza with the rest of the members.

We had our culminating night for the fifth and last day, an event inventively titled “1024 MB,” which was held at the Merci Bar and Restaurant at Timog Avenue, Quezon City. We celebrated the end of our event there with delicious food, live bands that consisted of members and alumni from our organiza-tion—including Bullet Dumas, Nights of Rizal, With Fingers Crossed, Ang Bandang Felix, Navs, and Turing Machine—and the fun and heartwarming company of our members.

... this semester is Franrey Saycon with Chad Booc as his co-head. Other steering committee mem-bers include Kenneth Otsuka as the logistics head, Erik Narvaez as the finance head, Matthew Lopez as the publicity head, and finally Louie Buera as the records head. Truly, a team dedicated to making HAGKAN kids a success.

The first stop of HAGKAN kids for the year was Krus Na Ligas Elementary school (KNLES) on the sunny Monday morning of Sept 22. The lecturer for this visit was Lovely Joy Casauay whose energy hyped the whole room. The flow of the teaching was just right and the children were wonderful listeners. Internet problems occurred in the near end of the lecture but the students were satisfied of how it ended, especially after they presented their Impress slides dedicated to their student marshalls.

Soon after, the second visit became nigh. Sept 29, another Monday, came and the HAGKAN kids team were ready to go to San Vicente Elementary School, to spread knowledge once more. Niña Quiazon, known to be one of the Computer Science repre-sentatives at ESC, was the lecturer for this second visit. The students made several humorous Impress presentations and thus marked the end of the second visit.

Coincidentally, one of the students is a son of a teacher who soon heard the feedback from him and in effect, recommended the team to visit again next year!

The last visit of the year was at Old Balara Elementary School. After all the sudden school suspensions due to some instanc-es that include, the new announced holiday on Oct 6, and the development of a tropical storm; the HAGKAN team finally resumed their visits on Nov 17, another Monday. It was a rainbow after the storm. Lovely Casauay was once again the lecturer for this last visit.

This visit was the most challeng-ing so far since only a few laptops and volunteers were present. On the bright side, other equipment needed for the lecture were provided by the school and helped make the teaching session a success. In the end, smiles filled the faces of the students. It only indicates that the event served them well despite the big ratio over one laptop, among other problems. What matters most is that the kids learned much in the lectures and that is one of the indispensible knowledge they would need in their whole lives for sure!

HAGKAN kids is expected to continue next year. This is not the end.

A WEEK OF REBIRTH ELAINEITURRALDE

HAGKAN KIDS TURNS 3 FRANREYSAYCON

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CS ++ is a year-long seminar with the vision to create a studentry that is continually searching for more knowledge about computer science (CS). To execute that vision, CURSOR has set to give computer science students a chance to do one thing through CS ++: explore—to explore beyond their classes and to explore beyond their curriculum. The organization has given that chance by presenting students with avenues and opportunities to discover beyond what is taught in their degree program—thereby building students’ passion for the field as well as preparing them for life after graduation.

The first CS++ seminar, held last Aug 13, was about giving every-one a taste of one of the hottest creative programming languages out there now—Processing, which was taught by Jose Daniel Berba. Processing is a program-ming language that is meant to teach the programming funda-mentals in a visual context by making it really easy to generate visuals with a few simple lines of code.

The second CS++ seminar, held last Sept 25, brought students to “Computer Science in Music,” a talk with Dr Andrei Coronel which showed how they can apply CS concepts to one of their favorite art forms—music.

The last CS++ seminar for the year 2014, held last Oct 30 let students indulge with their visual cravings with one of the best sources of eye candy out there: computer-generated imagery (CGI). The introduction to CGI was presented by Mr David Nicolo Dela Cruz.

For the past two years, UP CURSOR has been giving back to the country by conducting tutori-al sessions on basic computer literacy and proper internet usage to middle school students through the Handog Kaalaman (HagKan) program. Now on HagKan's third year, it's about time for the org to serve techno-logical knowledge not only to kids but also to adults. As such, Handog Kaalaman Para sa Mang-gagawa ng Bayan, colloquially known as HagKan Adults, was conceived into action.

The vision of HagKan Adults is to promote computer literacy and its significance to Filipinos that are employed in public service in order to expand their learning potentials and to create a citizen-ry that is adaptive to the techno-logically advancing world. To carry out this vision, UP CURSOR set to hold tutorial sessions for public school teachers in the vicinity, the UP administration, and in the UP Diliman community as well.

The steering committee for this year's HagKan Adults is composed of Jeynald Jeyromme Endaya, the Officer-in-Charge; Nathalie Gabrielle Tatualla, Com-munications officer; Paul John Judal, Records officer; Catherine Louvette Ting, Logistics head; Patrick James Granada and Lek Bongalonta, Logistics team mem-bers; Matthew Lopez, Publicity head; Janelle Maximo and Neil Jonothan Trinidad, Publicity team members; Aldrin Simpao, Finance officer; Paul Emil Ongoco, Junior Head, and Jadurani Davalos, the Head.

The team, together with about 10

volunteers, conducted its pilot session last Oct 25 at Krus Na Ligas Elementary School. Unlike the sessions in HagKan Kids which are held only for half a day, HagKan Adult sessions were held for a whole day. The team was first greeted with the teachers' smiling faces and welcoming, upbeat music.

The lecturers in the morning were Joms Catipay and Nicole Anne Ramirez. They taught requested topics on MS Word, Powerpoint, and Excel. The teachers were glad to receive the lessons and a jovial atmosphere was kept throughout the morning.

In the afternoon, Kristine Gayle Nebrija and Gerald Roy intro-duced Google Apps for Education to the teachers. The teachers were keenly interested in the topic. Though problems occurred in some parts of the lecture, the tutorial session was able to push through thanks to the team members’ help.

After the lessons, teachers were asked for their feedbacks using a Google form. One of them wrote, "Mababait at matyaga ang mga guro naming mga kabataan sa pagtuturo. Ipagpatuloy ninyo ang inyong ginagawa hindi lamang sa amin kundi sa iba pang mga tulad naming nangangailangan ng mga ganitong kaalaman. Maram-ing-maraming salamat sa inyong lahat!!! Pagpalain kayo ng Pangi-noon... Love you all !!! We enjoyed your company..."

The pilot session was such a marvelous experience. More sessions shall be held next semes-ter, carrying the spirit of giving back.

CS ++: ExplorationBeyond the Program

GRACEMAGNO

pilot session, pilot year jaduranidavalos

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Last August 11, the department’s annual orientation, “CS4CS: College Survival for Computer Science students,” was held at the Accenture Ideas Exchange Room, UP Alumni Engineers Centennial Hall from 9AM to 12PM.

The event was organized by UP Association of Computer Science Majors (UP CURSOR), together with the Department of Computer Science, Dedicated Computer Science Students, UP Association for Computer Machinery, and UP DCS-Center for Student Innova-tions.

CS4CS is for BS Computer Science (BS CS) freshmen, transferees, and shiftees. With the theme inspired by Hunger Games: The Mocking-jay, the department orientation had attracted 80 attendees. The

department chair Dr Prospero Naval made the welcoming remarks. Hosts Jeynald Jeyromme Endaya and Lovely Joy Casauay introduced the faculty members to the audience. The BS CS Curric-ulum, including the retention rules, was discussed by Sir Edge Angeles. Lectures about the different computer laboratories were also presented. CS4CS also involved talks by various Comput-er Science related partner groups and organizations. And of course, CS4CS had Sir Mario Carreon’s inspirational talk to close the event. Throughout the three-hour program, the hosts entertained the audience with cheers and stories about college life. After the event, snacks were provided to the attendees. Tokens of appreciation were presented to the speakers.

Organizational work is not some-thing most people learn in their subjects, unless you’re taking up a management degree. That’s why in response to one of the biggest clamors of the org’s members—a formal training for this kind of work—the current executive committee of UP CURSOR brought in an all-new event this year: the Skills Enhancement and Education Project, or the SEED Project, a seminar series made by the mem-bers for the members.

The seminar series was made up of different classes that members could sign up for and was taught personally by the members of the executive committee, with some special guests. For this semester, we had two sprints of the SEED project. At each sprint of the series, important lessons about working in an organization were introduced to the members: project management, branding and marketing, and logistics and finance. Bringing in our own flavor of org work was the class

entitled Introduction to UP CURSOR, were members were re-oriented on our own events for this year, as well as important aspects of the constitution.

But of course, why limit such a great opportunity to just the members? The SEED Project also became this semester’s commit-tee internship for the applicants. Each applicant was required to attend three different SEED Project seminars. The advantage? This way they’d be given a broad-er view of what it would be like to work inside UP CURSOR. Instead of choosing a committee and just learning about how that team works alone, applicants get to have an idea about how all the committees work and how they work with each other. Now they get to make a more informed choice when they finally choose a committee inside UP CURSOR as members.

At the end of the day, this year is all about rebirth. The aim is to make everything better than they ever were before, and the only way to do that is to make sure everyone knows how to make it better. That’s what the SEED Project is all about—we learn how to do really good work, and we do it.

Last Oct 23, UP CURSOR and UP ACM held HACK-le: An Alterna-tive Classroom Learning Experi-ence on mobile app development using the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) App Inventor at the Teaching Laboratory 1 of the Department of Computer Science. Co-headed by Jazel Marianne Cobico, the event’s aim was to give a workshop on how to use the said technology to create mobile applications. About 30 students took part on the said

activity.

CS4CS rocks freshies patriciasison

LET’s TACKLE HACKLE EMIRMERCADOsports rule the sem! Janelle

maximo

cursor brings the seed project jeynaldendaya

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The event was made to teach members how to play Ultimate Frisbee and to let members, alumni, and even applicants bond through the sport.

The Team Building Activity of CURSOR or TBAC; handled this semester by Maria Angelica Ramirez, Shemuel Nethaniah

Crisang, Romel Jordan Apostol, and Catherine Louvette Ting; once again burst with fun activi-ties in store for all last Dec 15 at the Village B Covered Court. This event would not be made possi-ble without the bond of the members to help them win every play in the activities.

THE PRTSCR_

Hike—the word may have long been ringing in your ears; it is almost everywhere. News can cover quite a broad range of headlines that deal with the same 'issue.' Prices rise for the holidays; gas prices come in for roller coast-er rates that, most of the time, unfortunately favor the 'moun-tain' courses. And just like these high rides of news, one computer science student would know the departmental version of the apparent problem.

It has been on for years—the lab fee hike. The one issue had been making headlines in the depart-ment even back in 2004, when the department itself was just setting to supplement the then 110-peso lab fee increase. Reasons back then included the standardization of lab fee surge in the entire UP System and the re-equipment of more functional computers in the computer laboratories. Today, as technology advances, reasons for implementing the same matter do not differ much from its former stated causes.

But at the very core of the current issue, one might be surprised to know that the 'hike' may not just be the apt name for such news, but rather it is rightfully called to be an 'implementation.' It is named as such, as the lab fee implementation primarily pushes to put a fee in CS classes that use computer labs, such as CS 165, 198, and 199, among others. In primal view, what the implemen-tation of the new fee rule wants to serve can be seen as, in the best word, right—students come to class, use the labs, and pay for it.

Though there lies the issue of the 'hike' amid having the 'implemen-tation' take its rightful road. Since lab fees are added to more lab classes, there should be no doubt that more money should be put out by students once enrollment starts. Truth be told, there is none

to lay down the doubt—only, the apparent rise of fee is not attribut-ed to the existing lab fee itself, but to the tuition fee of a student as a whole.

Now when there is a rise in the fees one needs to pay, one may shortly go against the hike. There are good reasons for that—not everyone can pay what he is due, especially if his dues are topped with greater monetary demands. Other than that, amounts that were set to pay the demands—even initially—have been laid to meet such needs rightly, and that should have been implemented after close calcula-tion is weaved to its core. So why the hike?

Does the DCS then need the implementation? Is the collective 800-peso fixed lab fee of students not enough to cover for all lab

expenses in the department?

It's a no and a yes.

In the eyes of fairness, one might think that since there are seniors who bear more lab classes than lower years, the toll of what hike the lab fee may demand shall be placed on the former's shoulders. However that is what the 800-pe-so fixed fee, as one might see it, has been preventing to come to life—a burden to pay for a student's due which he may not be able to meet. If the lab fee had been established to demand a pay that goes exactly according to the computer and Internet needs of a student, the amount of monetary demand may go exceedingly high for seniors. So though juniors may have less of lab needs compared to higher years, they are still able to be of help with the latter's expenses with the fixed lab rate.

And one can see that as fairness too; a junior shall 'pay' for his senior, and when that lower year student reaches the rising stages of tertiary education, his own juniors shall 'pay' for him—a fair exchange.

Again, the 800 pesos fixed fee has been established and run, after passing hike issues for years. There are reasons why it had risen to such amount, and it had already served to pay what all students are made to offer their money for. The amount can be enough, with the proper distribution of money to be paid for all fair expenses in the department. 'Till then, there must not be a need to secondarily implement a rule that should have been given light at the start of the lab fee's establishment. Students need not to suffer the new move in their department.

EDITORIAL.DOCUS[ ]PAGE D

LAB FEE HIKE: IMPLEMENTING THE UNJUST

.BY JANELLE MAXIMO

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1415A

"Why?"

There is a stack of creased papers spread clumsily upon the dining desk, with a man’s grown hand of a laced heavily over it. It's shaking.

"I'm sorry." The reply was shaking too.

Michelle looks up to see what the quivers call their home, and she is met with a head of auburn hair, fashioned to almost reach Luke's shoulders. His face is turned away.

"I'm sorry," he repeats, his voice only now hushed in a gentler tone. He hangs his head lower. "It's... not what you may think."

A light anger seethes in Michelle’s tone. "These are divorce papers; I know that well. What isn’t it?"

Luke finally greets her with swift turn of his head, but only calls out to his wife silently with his desperate eyes. They seep of red and warned of falling salty drops, but he keeps it in.

Michelle tries then, "You're divorcing me, why? Is there another lady? Has your business has gone bankrupt? Do you want to move out?"

Her husband shakes his head, but this time he finally lets it out. "It’s not that; I've told you, it's not what you may think."

"But why can't you just spit it out, why?"

"Because I can't."

"Now why can't you?"

They stare, but to where, even the couple wouldn't be sure. Michelle knows of the hold she has kept between Luke's eyes; she knows the orbs of lively underbrush still keep the budding roses among the snowy sheet as she stares.

Luke does not do the same.

Now there resides a silence they both unconsciously welcome, a moment filled only of a low drumming of rain on the concrete above their heads and a billowing race of questions they fear to be answered.

"Why can't you?"Do you fear what you're supposed to answer?

"Why are you crying now?"Does the rain have to fall on your cheeks as well?

"Do you still love me?"Do you still love me?

A pause. A shaky sigh. Then Luke turns to Michelle with a proper eye.

He whispers, "No."

Her.

She looked at her phone and sighed. She supposed she should have been used to it. He hadn’t contacted her in a week, and that was the longest they had gone without any type of communication ever since they had gotten together. Even when they had fought before, they usually talked it out by the third day and come to some sort of resolution. As it were, she left the restroom and went to her next class.

It scared her, because she couldn’t even remember why they had fought in the first place. All she could recall were the hurtful words they had exchanged.

You’re too young to understand.

Why don’t you try coming here?

I have a life outside of this relation-ship too, you know.

You only ever think about yourself. What about me? What about what I feel?

Are you even aware that there are two sides and two people in a relationship?

Her clenched fists and tensed shoul-ders didn’t leave her the whole day. By the time she’d arrived in her apartment, she was exhausted in every meaning of the word. Since it was a Friday night, she’d decided to take a long bubble bath before trying to talk to her boyfriend.

She was in the tub when her phone rang.

Him.

It was frustrating. Between work, time differences, and family, he couldn’t really find it in him to fully commit to his…love life. He closed the door to his condo and threw his bag on the couch. He looked at the clock mounted on the wall. 7:00pm. It would have been eleven in the morning where she was. He debated calling her then, but decided not to do so even when he already had his

phone out.

He took a quick shower and then went to sleep. He’d talk to her in the morning.

At four in the morning, his alarm sounded. He turned it off and sat up slowly. He reached for the phone on his nightstand and detached the charger. He looked at the screen, where a picture of them shone brightly in the unlit room.

It was seconds later that he dialed her number.

Them.

Her: Hello?

Him: Hey.

Her: Is everything okay? Are you okay?

Him: Yes, yes….

Her: This is an expensive call you’re making.

Him: I know. We need to talk.

Her: …I’m listening.

Him: I’m sorry. I had a bad week and I took it out on you. I know it’s difficult for both of us. With you in school, me at work, and us in differ-ent countries, the fact that we’ve lasted so long never ceases to amaze and surprise me.

Her: And I’m sorry that I took things personally. I guess I was pissed at the timing. Between finals week and that conversation, I just became agitated and snapped back.

Him: What do we do now?

Her: I…I don’t know.

Him: Is this – are we working out?

Her: We could.

Him: But maybe we shouldn’t.

Her: You seem to have made up your mind….

Him: I gave you the break you asked for…haven’t you?

Her: I guess I did.

the literary corner

a run down the eye janellemaximo

calls jaeandaya

LEISURE_TIME(31);PAGE E

Duet by Merselle Montes

My wallet isEmpty but my

Heart is Filled with theSongs we sang At the arcade -

Duets aboutPromises we'll

Never make and Love we'll

Never have, and

A couple ofMelodies about Unrequited love

You sang themBeautifully, asUsual but only

I sang them withFeelings.

“Dear bit and byte,

Ayoko talaga na kachat ko kayo. Small talk lang naman ang nangyayari eh. Hindi tayo nagiging mas close, mas napapalayo pa kayo sa akin tuwing chinachat niyo ko.”---AyawSanaMagingPlastic, 2012, dcs

“Mawawala yata ako sa enggweek. Magkakaroon ako ng eternal sin. TTATT”---MIA, 2012

“Merry Christmas, UP CURSOR!”---Sexy, 201*

the cursor files

LEISURE_TIME(31);PAGE F

Requested by Reg. by pachu tan requested by iship. by kelly co

THE TEAM WHOBROUGHT YOUTHE PRTSCR_:

janelle maximoeditor-in-chief

assistant editor-in-chief

layout artists

art contributors

contributors

paul john argarin

matthew lopezyohanna bautista

jae andayajadurani davalos

jeynald endayaelaine iturralde

grace magnoemir mercado

merselle montesfranrey saycon

patricia sisonjon trinidad

pachu tankelly co