fuckyeahateneo

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Mon, 23 Jan 2012 08:13:21 -0500

Tanghalang Ateneo's FIREFLIES

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 08:12:27 -0500

Suzue Toshiro’s

FIREFLIES
English Translation by David Goodman

A love story of the post-industrial age

February 9-11, 15-18 and 22-25 (7 PM)
February 11, 18 and 25 (2 PM)
Rizal Mini-Theater

For more information, contact Ada Albaña at 0920-584-7421.

The 3-on-3 Basketball Challenge is an annual whole day...

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 08:12:04 -0500

The 3-on-3 Basketball Challenge is an annual whole day open-to-all league organized by the Ateneo Women’s Basketball Club. It will be held on February 12, 2012 (Sunday) from 8:00am-5:00pm at the Ateneo de Manila University College Covered Courts.

Photo

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 21:10:05 -0500

4 DAY WEEKEND!!

Sun, 27 Nov 2011 08:50:04 -0500

The President’s Council, at its meeting last 24 October 2011, approved to declare Tuesday, 7 February 2012 as UAAP Championship holiday for the whole University. This is to recognize the Ateneo teams and athletes who played their best in Season 74 of the UAAP.

This is scheduled on the day following President’s Day (6 Feb 2012), also a University holiday, thus giving us a four-day weekend.

Congratulations to our student athletes, coaching teams, coordinators, officers and staff of the University Athletics Office, including the athletics offices of the various units. Thank you for embodying All Out All Heart to us here at the Ateneo.

Enjoy this special weekend.

Jose Ramon T Villarin SJ
President

Old Rizal Library

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 21:51:06 -0500

Old Rizal Library

Beautiful Trees in Ateneo.

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 21:51:06 -0500

Beautiful Trees in Ateneo.

TIME-OUT!ACOMM with online partner Yahoo! Philippines presents...

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 11:32:07 -0400

TIME-OUT!

ACOMM with online partner Yahoo! Philippines presents Time Out: Is social media changing the online playground? ACOMM wants you to join our Social Media Summit and find out what role you play! :)

Step 1:
Find out more about our awesome event and our amazing line-up of speakers such as Maria Ressa, Dj Mo Twister, Pedrosa Pilar, Yahoo’s Joey Alarilla, GMA News Online Candice Montenegro, and Professor Rowena Azada Palacios by clicking https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=187174061360772

Step 2:
Know about the program here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xMpED9NcTAb1GOl6vbPPbpiG4o67O4MgrEcJplxqug0/edit

Step 3:
APPLY!! https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dDRNMTNhTHVxWFBNVkoyaEJibl9TU3c6MQ

*Payment procedures to be announced very soon!

New Rizal Library.

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 21:00:05 -0400

New Rizal Library.

Katipunan

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 21:00:05 -0400

Katipunan

Katipunan Traffic

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 21:00:05 -0400

Katipunan Traffic

Are you ready to take a TIME OUT? #ACOMM. #SocialMediaSummit...

Sun, 30 Oct 2011 01:25:07 -0400

Are you ready to take a TIME OUT? #ACOMM. #SocialMediaSummit #ComingSoon

Turn YOUR children’s story into a book! Deadline of...

Sun, 30 Oct 2011 01:24:55 -0400

Turn YOUR children’s story into a book! Deadline of submissions is at the end of October!

Go to: http://heights-ateneo.org/news/ for more details. :)

Know your Ateneo.

Sun, 30 Oct 2011 01:24:47 -0400

Know your Ateneo.

Kagabi, nung naglakad ako pauwi mula sa Ateneo...

Sat, 03 Sep 2011 11:54:51 -0400

Siya: *kalabit sa balikat ko* Ser, pwede po ba malaman kung anong oras na?
Ako: *kabado, pero sinusubukang maging kalmado* Ah, quarter to eight
Siya: *naglalakad sa bandang tabi ko* Pauwi na, ser?
Ako: *tingin sa katabi, namukhaan ko* Oo, ikaw din 'no?
Siya: Oo nga eh. ... Hay, ilang araw na lang 'no?
Ako: *biglang naalala yung tungkol sa palitan ng security agency sa eskwela* Oo nga eh. Teka, ikaw yung sa may RMT na guwardiya di ba? *nakilala ko kasi siya madalas ang pinapakiusapan kong mag-radyo sa maintenance para magpabukas ng aircon araw-araw dahil may play ang org namin nito lang Agosto*
Siya: *tumango* Hay. ... May mga bata nga kanina, nagpapasalamat, may mga binibigay na card. yung iba. Eh halos maluha-luha nga ako eh. Ma-mi-miss ko din yung eskwela niyo.
Ako: *tuluyan nang nawala ang kaba* Wow naman. Grabe lang kasi eh, ewan ko kung bakit kelangan pa magpalit.
Siya: Bake meron sa grade school at high school ata na mag-stay dun.
Ako: Eh sa college?
Siya: Wala ata eh.
Ako: Sa'n ka nga pala nauwi?
Siya: Diyan lang sa Marikina. *konting katahimikan*
Ako: Eh, pa'no yun? Pagkatapos nito, saan ka na?
Siya: Bahala na. Sana makahanap ng bago. May anak akong nag-aaral ng college eh.
Ako: Anong year na?
Siya: Fourth year.
Ako: Eh hala. Paano na yan? Sayang naman isang sem na lang.
Siya: Kung hindi makahanap, eh di baka mag-stop muna siya. *konting katahimikan*
Ako: Naku, sana makahanap kayo. Eh tinutulungan naman ba kayo kahit papaano nung school na makapaghanap ng malilipatang trabaho?
Siya: Wala nga eh.
Ako: *natigilan* Naku, pero hayaan niyo, marami naman sigurong nag-ha-hire ng guwardiya kasi maraning tinatayo ngayon. *nasa bandang SM Blue na kami nito*
Siya: Sana nga.
Ako: *malapit na sa inuuwian. medyo nahiya sa sarili kasi parang ang insensitive nung sinabi kong huli. sino ba naman ako para magsabi kung maraming trabaho o wala?* O siya, liko na 'ko dito.
Siya: Sige po ser, ingat.
Ako: Ingat din. *tapik sa balikat niya* *pa-kanan ako papunta dun sa bandang Ministop. pa--diretso siya sa may Petron.*
Ako: *tumingin sa direksyon niya. pasigaw* Salamat nga pala.
Siya: *lumingon. ngumiti. tumango. tapos dumiretso na ng lakad*

Ateneo vs. SM

Wed, 17 Aug 2011 21:23:11 -0400

Ateneo vs. SM :

LAST Friday, the Ateneo de Manila University community spearheaded a rally for good governance calling for the immediate revocation of the exemption given by Quezon City’s past city council to SM Development Corporation’s (SMDC) Blue Residence. The exemption gives the right to SMDC to build a 42-floor condominium unit at the intersection of Katipunan Avenue and Aurora Avenue. As far as zoning regulations are concerned, the maximum number of floors that SMDC can be allowed to construct would only be 24, the exemption gave the developer the right to almost double the amount of floors that is allowed by the zoning regulation.

I suspect that there was some exchange of “favors” that happened between SMDC and the past city council of Quezon City which was led by then Vice-Mayor Herbert Bautista. The exemption resolution was actually sponsored and pushed by former Quezon City councilors Ariel Inton and Victor Ferrer, Jr., who aren’t actually councilors coming from the 3rd district of Quezon City where the condominium project is currently on-going. I even heard a nasty rumor that some of the councilors who voted to support the resolution actually purchased condominium units since they received major discounts to the condominium units that were being sold. Are we now teaching our youth that if you have influence, the right connections and money, you can easily skirt around the law? Is this the good governance and righteous leadership that the present administration has promised?

Waste management and heavy traffic
Aside from the Ateneo community, Miriam College and the homeowners associations of Xavierville, Varsity Hills and La Vista are also joining the protest saying that such a major development would cause problems to the community. These problems include the water supply and waste management along the Loyola Heights area. Another major issue will be the traffic situation given the additional number of residents and cars that the condominium will bring. I regularly pass Katipunan Avenue on my way home and as it is during rush hours, one can easily get stuck in the horrendous traffic for almost an hour. I could just imagine how worse the traffic situation will be once the Blue residences start to be occupied by its homeowners.

I don’t think our good councilors in Quezon City saw the impact of the exemption that they were granting. Zoning regulations were made by urban planning experts for a reason and I don’t think the city council has the expertise to overturn these said regulations.

Along the Marikina fault line?
Another major concern that some of the stakeholders in the area have is that the development is being erected near the Marikina fault line. There is a reason why we don’t see high rise buildings being erected in Marikina or near Marikina since when a major earthquake occurs this can lead to a tragedy of epic proportions. If one would look at where the development is being constructed, its actually in the boundary of Marikina and Quezon City thus, one would have to wonder why SMDC and the previous city council would allow such as high rise building to be put up in a high risk area. Clearly, we are already seeing here that profit and greed are taking precedence over the well-being and safety of the community.

Are they really the good guys?
The SMDC prides itself in saying that they are the good guys but are they really? No public consultation was made by SMDC before they applied for their exemption which was given swiftly. Why? Because they—SMDC and the councilors— knew that the Loyola Heights community wouldn’t allow such an exemption to be granted. If ever they had some kind of public consultation, major stakeholders in the community such as Ateneo, Miriam and the homeowners associations weren’t invited or even informed that there was going to be such an activity.

Is this how responsible businesses act? I think the owners of the SM Group of Companies should know that corporate social responsibility isn’t just about giving scholarships to the poor and helping the elderly with hospital services but that it begins by being a good citizen and obeying the law. If they are really the good guys as their advertisements claim, it would be best for them to immediately stop the construction of their Blue residences and sit down with the Ateneo and other members of the Loyola Heights community to resolve this problem in the best possible way.

Political will
As for the present city council of Quezon City, I hope that it would have the political will to immediately work towards the revocation of the exemption which was given to SMDC. In fairness to Quezon City Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte, QC Rep. Bolet Banal and QC Councilor Allan Reyes, I should state here that all three of them have been at the forefront of trying to seek an amicable settlement between SMDC and the Loyola Heights community. I hope that in the end, we can all find a win-win solution not only for SMDC but most especially the community that will be most affected by this development.

This can only happen if SMDC would show good faith by stopping the on-going construction until this issue is resolved.

Katipunan blues

Sun, 14 Aug 2011 02:03:41 -0400

Katipunan blues:

My granddaughter, 10-year-old Julia, jolted me the other day with a remark on the state of Quezon City where she has lived all her life. As we entered the narrow street linking the Marikina side of Aurora Boulevard to Katipunan Avenue, she glanced at the ongoing “SM Blue Residences” construction spanning the entire left side of that alley and grimly declared: “I am against more tall buildings like that.” It was a political statement from out of the blue – the first I’ve heard from the mouth of this babe.

A student at Miriam, Julia finds herself stewing in traffic everyday as her school bus wends its way through Katipunan’s increasingly dysfunctional traffic. I remember this avenue back in the ’60s as the greenest and coolest stretch of road one could find in the city. Only a handful of rich students went to school in cars. Most took the bus or lived in dormitories. There were no gated villages then except Alta Vista to the south and La Vista to the north. Katipunan served mainly as the link between the sprawling campus of the University of the Philippines and the beautiful Loyola Heights campuses of Maryknoll and Ateneo.

Something happened in the early ’80s however. The student population rose exponentially, reflecting the new prosperity funded by overseas workers’ remittances. New gated communities started to sprout in the green zones bordering the triangle formed by the three schools of Diliman and Loyola, their main selling point being precisely their proximity to these prestigious institutions. Where residential neighborhoods multiply, the commercial establishments could not be far behind. In the beginning, these were small one or two-story shops that primarily serviced the needs of students. The only fast-food joint along Katipunan was Shakey’s. There was not a single billboard on this tree-lined avenue until it became part of C-5.

Despite the growing student population and the flood of economic activity it attracted, the area would have retained its natural beauty if the zoning restrictions were strictly observed, and the essential character of the place as an educational and low-density residential area was respected. But, one after the other, the small shops were torn down. In their place, bigger and taller multi-use buildings have risen above the expansive environs of Ateneo and Miriam. The current building frenzy in this part of the city exemplifies everything that is wrong with urban development in our country.

The rise across Miriam College of the 31-floor SM Berkeley Residences, which was completed in December 2010, has transformed the whole profile of Loyola Heights. Sitting on just 2,718.70 square meters of land, which would have accommodated no more than 10 middle-class bungalows in the past, SM’s Berkeley Residences packs 1,058 residential units! The entire ground floor houses other SM-owned establishments like SaveMore and Banco de Oro.

Clearly encouraged by the rise in value of these condo units, SM is building more of the same – this time on the other side of Katipunan. Calling it the “Blue Residences,” no doubt cashing in on its neighbor’s signature color, SM Development Corporation aims to deliver 41 floors of condominium units by the last quarter of 2013. Ateneo has rallied the Loyola Heights community to protest the exemption from zoning laws granted to SM. “I’m on their side,” my granddaughter informed me. She foresees that when SM’s Blue Residences become operational, the shortcut that her school bus takes from Aurora Boulevard to Katipunan will be so clogged with traffic as to make it inaccessible. But, more than this, she dreads the thought of Katipunan being walled in by skyscrapers.

All this makes one wonder if there is anyone who cares to put a halt to the wanton conversion of precious open landscapes into the kind of densely built-up commercial centers of which the box-like megamalls, “hypermarts,” and towering residences of Henry Sy have become emblematic. Do the public officials who approve his projects all over the country ever worry whether there are enough roads to carry the radical increase in traffic volume generated by these developments? Do they ever ask how these projects will affect the local water supply, the garbage disposal system, the drainage system, the noise level, peace and order, and the management of emergencies induced by fire, earthquakes and other disruptions?

How many more of these gigantic malls and high-rise residences can our cities take? This is a question not so much for Henry Sy and the other land developers like him. We don’t really expect them to see beyond the profits to be made from investments funded by the massive liquidity at their disposal. It is a question, rather, that we must address to our government and to ourselves. Is this what nation-building is – building more malls, more supermarkets, more fast-food joints, more towering beehives of cramped tiny living units? And is this what economic development is – that small entrepreneurs and shop owners must seek shelter and rent space in mega structures if they are to survive? Isn’t it a sad comment on our lack of vision that outside Metro Manila, progress is now equated with the presence of SM and Jollibee?

The reason we have a government is so that we may have an agency in which to debate and plot our collective vision of how we should live and grow as a people. To allow this vision to be shaped mainly by today’s big developers is to resign ourselves to the kind of incoherent, ugly, and unsustainable urban communities we now see all over the country.

A rally for good governance. http://www.facebook.com/NOtoSMBlue

Sat, 13 Aug 2011 04:59:29 -0400

A rally for good governance.

http://www.facebook.com/NOtoSMBlue

Blue Community Vs Blue Residences Please reblog this and let...

Sat, 13 Aug 2011 04:58:00 -0400

Blue Community Vs Blue Residences

Please reblog this and let everyone know what the issue on SM Blue is. We cannot protest, yet only sit back and stand by while this building is continuing to be built! They cannot control social media.

http://www.facebook.com/NOtoSMBlue

Be your own star by helping the kids shine and be the BIDA for...

Sun, 07 Aug 2011 22:17:31 -0400

Be your own star by helping the kids shine and be the BIDA for one special day. Join a Blue Christmas subcore!

Fill this up first: http://bit.ly/bluechristmas-subcore-2011, then for the subcore you want to apply for:

Facilitator
The committee that will bring happiness and excitement to the children of Blue Christmas by training the volunteers to become the most awesome Ates and Kuyas.
http://bit.ly/bluechristmas-subcore-2011-faci

Logistics
Generally, we are the Committee with the walkie talkies ensuring everyone is at location. We talk the talk and surely walk the walk. We are the Logistics Committee and we create the momentum from the start by giving the best spaces for Blue Christmas.
http://bit.ly/bluechristmas-subcore-2011-log

Programs
The committee tasked to ensure the recruitment of class hosts and as well as to create a program flow for the day of the event.
http://bit.ly/bluechristmas-subcore-2011-programs

Marketing
The committee dedicated in pursuing possible sponsors and benefactors in order to provide resources that will make the Blue Christmas experience worthwhile and enriching for the children.
http://bit.ly/bluechristmas-subcore-2011-marketing

SecMob
The committee that will make sure that the kids enjoy Blue Christmas with as less inconvenience as possible.
http://bit.ly/bluechristmas-subcore-2011-secmob

Promotions
The committee that will make Blue Christmas 2011 an event to remember by making awesome promotional materials for one of the biggest Christmas events in the Ateneo.
http://bit.ly/bluechristmas-subcore-2011-promos