SPECIAL ONLINE ISSUE www.thelightpub.tumblr.com SEPTEMBER 2010

A closer look on USePians semestral vibes

THE LIGHT EDITORIAL STAFF

EDITOR IN CHIEFASSOCIATE EDITORMANAGING EDITOR

NEWS EDITORFEATURES EDITOR

SPORTS EDITOR

SENIOR WRITERS

JUNIOR WRITERS

ILLUSTRATORS

PHOTOJOURNALIST

LAYOUT ARTISTS

ADVISER

Erwin FuentesJezza Meh MaghamilShany Lou GamasRhodora Joy LumanogBayani EscotonRyan Abenoja

Donald BabianoKatrina RecaboRobin Labra

Louie Bryan LapatJunard DuterteKhif MirandaHerdin CutabFelix Rey Largo

Llover YapTito RubillosNuriel Nebres

Gretchen Juit

Louie Bryan M. LapatLlover Yap

Miss Donna Magallanes

CONTENTS

ABOUT THE COVERThe cover depicts students

reading the Tok ob da Kampus whichexposes the dark sides of the SSC financial

fiasco.Digital Art by Louie Bryan Lapat

FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK

Let me tell you where I am today. I’m pounding keys in front of an obso-lete computer monitor, amidst a sea of blue on the interior’s wall, in a build-ing painted with baby pink. They call this place Computer Lab, where obsolete computer sets adorn its space and students murmur on the in-ternet connection’s very, very slow connectivity. Across an aisle, stu-dents are chatting and shouting. Some are smiling, some are not. It’s barely three o’clock, three hours to go before the sun would kiss the western skies.

I would like to tell you what I am doing as I hit the keyboard, but I am too tired for that. It’s Midterms to-day—the campus is so silent and the stu-dents are studying bloody just to hit the tip of the iceberg. But the idea of facing this flickering screen with a very, very –dare I say it—slow connectivity adds to it. I call this the day the Blue Day. Aside from the fact that my best friend snobbed me today, I think it has always been the mind-set whenever I set foot in this Blue Room.Network Timeout will be the most annoying phrase one would probably encounter here which will result to 48 years of slow connec-tivity. No network connection will kill stu-dent’s patience in a wink of an eye and long before anyone could access a web page, the time ticks and your time allotment shortens. And because every student pays for the in-ternet fees, every single penny is also wasted. That is what it takes in a univer-sity aiming to be a premier state universi-ty in the ASEAN Region. In an institution so proud of its students who survived the elimination of the unfit, this dilemma could be the last nail to seal the coffin of that il-lusion. I mean vision. Contentment could be the name of the game but majority of us aren’t satisfied. How could you be so naïve? Thirty minutes ago, to the stu-dents’ surprise, new sets of computer ar-rived. Whoa, brand new, with flat screens

but bulky CPUs. This could be synonymous in pressing F5 on the keyboard: refreshing. But is it? I would like to believe otherwise. It could be a welcome develop-ment, but it’s just a microcosm representing the same old crux. While this signals a new start, the students look forward to the day where connectivity strikes fast as a lightning. These are postscripts to madness and craziness. I’m still here today and by the ab-sence of a choice, I’ll still be here until my se-mester’s allotment expires. It’s the only choice we’ve got and while this prevails, we’re re-minded of a simple truth: patience is a virtue. But sometimes, the truth hurts. J I would like to believe that this will soon pass and I look forward to the day of writing a positive story next issue and for the blue day to turn red, and for the lead of this story to read this way: Let me tell you where I am today. I’m pounding keys in front of a very cool computer monitor, amidst a sea of blue on the interior’s wall, in a building painted with baby pink. They call this place Computer Lab, where high-tech computers adorn its space and students are jubilating on the internet connection’s very, very fast and thirst-quenching connectivity. You and I hope this won’t fall to deaf ears.

*to the murmuring cute girl in ponytail across an aisle to where I sit as I’m writing this, this is for you. This also goes out to the obvious and to the students who are able to download torrents, and to those who can access facebook which contributes to my and other’s blue days.

Fatally Dangerous