THE STONE COLD TRUTH
(The
Parallelism of USC and Hollywood)
<Jolie Fitch is Jena Malone's character in "Cheaters" who was the spokeperson for the students>
My best friend Jolie Fitch came to
confide in me because she had lost faith in the systems of the
school. After hearing everything, I knew she didn't have it in her to
pursue this, so I took it upon myself to pursue it for her. Jolie
believes herself to be a typical student. She shows up everyday and
skips class on occasion. This attitude led to her failure in one of
her major courses last semester. Obviously she heard words from her
parents for it. She spent this past summer thinking about her
attitudes and vowed to herself to turn over a new leaf. She promised
herself never to repeat the mistakes of past. So came enrollment time
this semester. She enrolled in as many subjects as she could for the
semester. However upon enrollment, her standing was not changed by
the ARIS system, so unbeknownst to her, she had overloaded, simply
because of an error made by the ARIS. She did not realize this until
well into the second week of class (the week of June 16). She thought
she could cheat the system in a sense by not changing her standing,
but one of her teachers advised her of the possible consequences if
she pushed through with her actions. So after taking into account the
possible consequences, she decided to do what was right. She had her
department correct her standing and she would be forced to withdraw
the overloaded units. After her classes on the Thursday of that week
(June 19), she proceeded to the Main campus to do the formalities of
the withdrawal process. After getting the necessary signatures, she
lined up at the usually long line of the teller to pay the accustomed
P11 to adjust schedule or withdraw a subject. When she finally
reached the window, Jolie is told by the right side teller that
withdrawals will only be entertained on Monday. Not one to cause a
scene, she just left quietly to return on Monday. So she returned
first thing on Monday morning June 23, before her classes. The teller
tells her that she need not pay the P11 because it was already past
the second week of class, so she will be charged 100% for the course.
Obviously this stuns Jolie. After all, she was there the week before
to withdraw and is told she will not be entertained until the
following week, and when she returns the following week she finds out
she's going to pay the full cost of a class she never attended
because a teacher was yet to be assigned. According to Jolie, she
questions why June 9 was even counted as the first week of classes
when the Secretary of Education stated in the June 1, 2003 issue of
the Philippine Daily Inquirer that teachers will report on the 9th to
discuss SARS prevention and other issues and that ALL students need
only to report on the 16th. So, I showed her the notice from the
president of USC that stated classes would start on the 9th as
originally scheduled, provided the school has taken the necessary
steps and precautions. Upon reading the notice, she raised new
questions. Why wasn't this notice spread on a national level (like
through newspapers) because she is just one of many students who live
outside of Cebu province, hence she could not come to the school and
read said notice? Also what are these new steps and precautions? The
university seems to still be operating in the same manner it did
pre-SARS outbreak. Jolie is just one student who had to withdraw a
subject. Just imagine how many more did, now imagine how much each
subject costs for each of those students. Now multiply those two
numbers together. You get the picture?
<Jimmy Smith is
Eminem's character in "8 Mile" who wanted to leave 8 Mile
with his sister but could not before he earned enough money and
respect from his peers>
This did not stop at Jolie. Jolie introduced me to
her boyfriend Jimmy Smith, who seemingly lost faith even
before her. While Jimmy is good at his course, Jimmy will be the
first to admit that his course is not what he wants to do for the
rest of his life. He lost the passion for the course at least 3 years
ago. It may have never been there to begin with. It took 2 planes
crashing into buildings and collapsing on worldwide TV for him to
realize that life's too short, so you should do what you have a
passion for. If it were all up to him, Jimmy would have left this "8
Mile" of his a long time ago to do what he is passionate about
(and it has absolutely nothing to do with his course). But he knows
the world doesn't work that way. Your parents send you here to give
us a chance in the real world, so we have to make the best of it he
says. In 8 Mile, B-Rabbit knows he's a good rapper who wants respect
but doesn't want to do battles because of stage fright. But in order
to gain respect he had to battle, so he did battle. In the same
sense, Jimmy knows he's damn good at what he wants to do with the
rest of his life and can only get better, but he knows he won't
garner true respect from his family until he graduates. His family
has invested so much in him, so while he wants to do something else,
he also wants to do what's right which is finish the course for his
family. So he wants to finish first, then pursue his dreams
elsewhere. But Jimmy ran into a major dilemma. Just like Jolie, Jimmy
had failed in one major course the previous semester. However, unlike
Jolie, his major subject was the pre-requesite to all the next major
subjects in his course, while hers led to no other subject. A
"dead-end major" so to speak for Jolie, a "split in
the road" major so to speak for Jimmy. Determined to still
graduate with his friends, Jimmy knew the only way to do that was to
take that subject during Summer 2003. Jimmy had once briefly gained
some notoriety a year ago within his class for openly criticizing a
teacher of his, so he was somewhat labeled as a "Bad Boy"
student within his section. Labels fade but never truly die (even
though Jimmy wrote of his own free will a formal apology to his
teacher to apologize for offending him but not for criticizing him
because most of his classmates feel the same way about said teacher),
so his department was somewhat taken back by his determination to
succeed at any cost. During enrollment, his department informed him
that the subject would not be offered in the summer unless he
petitioned for it with the other students who failed, just as he
thought. He knew it would cost a lot, but he convinced his family
that it was the only way, so his parents consented to pay no matter
what the cost (Jimmy says the amount was very high, but if it is
revealed how much he paid or even what the subject was, he could be
tracked down) because they wanted to see him graduate as soon as
possible, just like I'm sure any other parent out there does also. So
he filed all the necessary paper work for a petitioned subject. Jimmy
recalls it was Tuesday, April 8th. He had spent all that day and the
day before, going from campus to campus to get the signatures needed
and finally he was at the last signature - the VPAA. He arrives at
the office at about 3:30 in the afternoon. Jimmy was informed by the
secretary that the VPAA was in a meeting, but may wait for him. And
so he did, knowing that his enrollment was not complete without the
signature. And he waited until a little before 5:30, when the VPAA
finally arrives. During the wait, about 8 or so other students had
arrived and waited with him, needing the VPAA signature for their
subjects to be petitioned. What happened next was what pissed Jimmy
off. The VPAA arrives, goes to his office to leave something, and
leaves for the day! This left his, all the other students there and
all the students whose names were on the petitions' enrollment
hanging for the 5-day weekend! Now, if this were the first or second
semester, one week in my opinion would have little or no impact. But
this was Summer, where every single day counts. The students would
already lose 2 days (Holy Thursday and Good Friday) of class because
of Holy Week, but because Araw ng Kagitingan fell on Holy Wednesday,
2 days quickly became 3 days. Jimmy felt even though working hours
were over, he and the others waited for the VPAA. If that doesn't
show even a little student professionalism, then what does? We show
professionalism, so show us some. A signature takes only a second,
and the truth of the matter is in Jimmy's opinion, VPAA, Registrar
and the others don't care we're petitioning, their signatures are
just mere formalities. While everything worked out in the end for
Jimmy - he took and passed the subject he previously failed and is
now back on track to graduate with his friends, this incident made
him begin to question some of the things that go on within the
school. Such as for instance, why in the first place the most
important major subjects are not offered in summer? Jimmy says he was
told by his department that if students can't handle the subject in
semester, they probably can't handle it in summer. Now isn't that
overstatement? While there is some validity to that argument, don't
we have the right to at least try? Further, Jimmy's subject was the
bridge between his former standing and his current standing, so it is
one of the, if not the most critical subject in his curriculum. These
most important subjects need to be offered both semesters and summer,
and if enrollment is low, then the department can remove it from
subjects offered or whatever is necessary. Is USC intentionally
trying to keep average students here?
<Nicole Oakley is
Kirsten Dunst's character in "Crazy/Beautiful" who had
everything because she was rich but was troubled for not being seen
for who she really was>
Then Jimmy introduced me to his friend Nicole
Oakley. Unlike Jimmy, she has the luxury of having a parent
within the school system, so if she has a problem, it can be dealt
with swiftly and quickly. Nicole has had almost everything given to
her all her life, so she has never experienced the toughness of the
world outside the walls of the university. Nicole however wants it
the other way though. She tries to be independent. So she'd welcome
trading places with Jimmy in a heartbeat, to have to work her way
through her problems. Because when it boils down to it, Nicole
believes her parents don't see her for who she is - a free spirit who
wants a life outside the overprotectiveness of her family, who wants
to live for the moment and not for the path set for her long ago
without having any of her input, who wants to experience suffering
because it could make her stronger. So if you know the right people,
things can go by easier and if you don't you'll have to suffer
consequences time and time again?
<This adaptation of
characters is not perfect like the others but it is very close>
Then Nicole took me to see a friend of hers, Luke
Skywalker. Luke has a certain teacher Darth Vader. Luke
describes Darth Vader as the 'terror teacher' all students fear and
hate - the one who fails as much as half the class at will, yet
cannot explain a good lecture where the students get the most of his
expertise, the one where when you ask for more details (from your
photocopied notes no less) he tells you just to read and understand
your notes yourselves, the one who during essay or written tests if
he doesn't feel your answer he just gives you a 5.0 even though you
gave your best answer and there is some point in it, the one who
you're happy (not to mention lucky) just to get the minimum 3.0. Luke
says pretty much all his classmates and friends who took Darth
Vader's course before would agree with this assessment. However
according to Luke, it is an established fact within his course that
Darth Vader does not have a decorated college life and is labeled a
'traitor'. Why? First the decorated college life, Luke tells he has
had conversations before with some of the legendary students of his
course and in one of these conversations Luke was told that Darth
Vader is no more than a mediocre student and in fact took almost
double the course length to graduate this course here. Is this how he
intends to let out his frustration? Now on to the traitor part - Luke
Skywalker is close to Obi-Wan Kenobi, a former student of
Darth Vader. Darth Vader worked for a certain local newspaper 'the
Jedi' and in turn received some financial aid for his studies. After
graduating he continued to work there. Then Obi-Wan, a cum-laude
student, because of connections with Yoda, the head of this
newspaper, and his extraordinary grades, Obi-Wan immediately received
a position in the Jedi that made him to be the direct superior to
Darth Vader (poetic justice that Obi-Wan can give Darth Vader a 5.0
so to speak if he doesn't feel his writing?). So what did Darth Vader
do? He walked out of the Jedi and went to work for 'the Empire', the
Jedi's main competition. The main issue here is this is an example of
not getting our money's worth. We pay so much per unit (and more each
semester when the quality isn't going up) for these subjects so we
expect to get our money's worth every time. In an ideal world, all
our teachers would be Michelle Pfeiffer in "Dangerous Minds",
Jeff Daniels in "Cheaters", Edward James Olmos in "Stand
and Deliver" or anyone from "Boston Public" who guide
their students any way they can to be the best they can be, but we
are not in an ideal world. So the least we can ask for is to get our
money's worth. Teachers are supposed to be our 'second parents' who
serve as role models, Darth Vader is just one of many who is an
example of one who's not. Darth Vader's subject requires more manual
work rather than marathon reading sessions to get the full effect of
his subject. But on the other hand, students in this course agree
that Darth Vader is not fully qualified to handle the thesis and
certain major subjects. Why? It is not that he is not capable, it is
that he has not garnered enough experience and enough respect from
his peers in the course he teaches. One would assume that the teacher
in a thesis course is clearly well-respected, well-experienced and
has full knowledge of the course garnered from many years in his
field. But more importantly, Luke told me that once before, some
student apparently kicked the door of his classroom disrupting his
class. Darth Vader goes outside and grabs with his bare hands the
collar of a student who just happened to be there, and when he found
out that he had the wrong student he never formally or even
informally apologized for his actions. Several students witnessed the
incident and filed a complaint. But what happened? Nothing, why? Most
likely because the chairman of Luke's course was the one who
recommended Darth Vader hold the thesis and major subjects in the
first place. Perhaps this is why Darth Vader feels he can do just
about anything he wants within the boundaries of being a teacher,
such as revising the thesis structure instead of by group or by pair,
it is now individual which is both unfair and just plain wrong
because of (1) the cost of materials and (2) this is a creative
endeavor and a creative course to begin with, so many different ideas
come from several minds working together to create something
presentable is better than a one-track mind. He has even been known
to write comments in papers submitted to him that seem degrading or
hurtful sometimes. Luke then said Obi-Wan showed him some of the
works submitted to him by Darth Vader while he was working under him.
Both agreed that it was good but was it great? No. As usual just as
in this entire university and even society in general (that includes
family), people think that just because they are older than you or
are superior to you in rank, EVERYTHING they say is right. Only now
are we mature enough to truly understand that that statement is
wrong, there are times you CAN be wrong and we CAN be right. So is
Darth Vader really that good? You decide.
<Sydney
Bristow is Jennifer Garner's character in "Alias" who was
lied to. She believed she was working for the CIA but found out she
was working for the very people she thought she was fighting against>
Then Luke told me about Sydney Bristow. I was acquainted
with Sydney, having met her once through Jolie. Sydney always dreamed
of studying in USC after she graduated from high school. But because
her family couldn't afford it, she was forced to attend her local
school. After a year in her local school, her parents finally were
able to gather enough money to send her here. But upon entering this
so-called institute of higher learning, she began to see USC as her
SD-6. Almost everything she had done in her previous school was
deemed useless simply because her school was not as decorated as USC.
That aside, Sydney worked her way to regain everything she had lost.
And after 3 years and 3 summers, she has done the impossible by
nearly-regulating her standing by aligning herself to her curriculum
as written in her prospectus. Sydney's ultimate goal was to graduate
in March. She now has only major subjects remaining, so she no longer
has the luxury of filling her remaining units with minors. There is
however one final problem in her plan. She has more subjects left in
the first semester than in the second. Sydney knew her department
operates in the same manner Jimmy's does. She also knows that a
student is only allowed to overload in the semester of graduation.
However she found what she called a loophole to that so-called
'policy'. Section 3.1.2 of the Student Manual (beside the point,
Sydney did not receive the manual when she transferred, she only
purchased it when her department had to kiss up to CHED, so students
of her department were made to study the manual) states "Course
load and sequence of courses shall be in accordance with the approved
curriculum. Reasonable exceptions may be permitted in individual
cases taking into account the best interest of the students, the
objectives of the curriculum and the mission of the University."
So Sydney decided to invoke this provision to take her overload this
semester rather than gamble on overloading next semester when her
subject might not be offered. Sydney's not a lawyer but one can
easily deduce that this section gives a student the right to overload
at any point and maybe even jump pre-requesites if a student can
justify their reasons and most likely have good enough grades, and
get clearance from their parents, teachers, department etc. During
enrollment this semester, Sydney went to the VPAA, the same VPAA that
had oppressed her friends Jimmy and Luke, to formally request that
she be the 'reasonable exception' stated, so she could overload now
and make graduating easier. The secretary tells her that VPAA will
not meet with students at that time, so she is to take her request to
Registrar first. So she went to Registrar. In her formal request,
Sydney had signatures from every important person conceivable and a
detailed explanation as to why she qualifies as the 'reasonable
exception'. Registrar hands her back her request stating that the
university policy states that only graduating students may overload.
Sydney knew that her odds of convincing the school of her side were
not very good, but Sydney feels she presented more than enough
evidence so that her case be at the very least deliberated upon by
all parties involved - her, her parents, her department, her
teachers, her Dean, VPAA, Registrar, President. That's when Sydney
learned the truth. USC is not an institution of higher learning that
provides a program of liberal education. Liberal? More like
conservative to me.
Let me leave you with some final thoughts. With regards to Jolie, in
"Cheaters", Steinmetz 'cheated a system that makes it
impossible for a general-admission school to win and that must piss
some people off.' We students are Steinmetz, USC is that system. With
regards to Jimmy, in "8 Mile", Jimmy in the lunch truck
scene raps 'this job you wanna quit but you can't / you've worked at
this plant so long / you're a plant.' USC is that job, USC is the
stamping plant, we students are the plants. With regards to Nicole,
in "Crazy/Beautiful", Nicole has more of a bad relationship
than good with her parents because they don't fully understand her.
Her father tries to make it better, her stepmom has all but given up
on her. We students are Nicole, activists are the father, USC is the
stepmom. With regards to Luke, The Jedi fights The Empire both using
The Force. We students are the Jedi, USC is the Empire, our rights
are the Force, and there are several Darth Vaders throughout USC.
With regards to Sydney, plain and simple, we students are the CIA,
USC is SD-6.
Some side thoughts:
1) There's a singing
contest this coming Intramurals and in the duet competition it is
clearly stated NO RAP. Why? Is it because most people can't rap and
to prevent a student being embarrassed - maybe. But Eyes Only and
Jimmy both agree it's probably because USC provides a program of
conservative education and not liberal just as Sydney's case shows.
Liberal in the very sense of the word means belonging to the people
and being open to change and progress. When will our elders
understand that music like everything else has evolved from its
previous forms? While it is their right to not enjoy this form of
music, it is equally our right to enjoy it and hence to express it.
Conservatives only see the inappropriate words and themes within rap,
but if they ever took the time to look beyond that, EVERYTHING beyond
the inappropriate themes is the truth and you're just too afraid to
admit that.
2) Similarly Mrs. Alo of the SAS has been quoted
saying "What we wear reflects our inner souls." In
retaliation, the VOT stated in their July 25, 2003 publication "So
the Whole USC Community May Not Be Misled By Half-Truths" that
"What is essential is invisible to the eye." Let me expand
on that thought. Have we not been taught time and time again in our
lives that we should never judge the book by its cover? Fashion is an
expression of oneself - male or female. What does what one wears have
to do with who he is as a person or more importantly in this case as
a student? If the probable valedictorian of my class came to school
dressed in the craziest outfit with the craziest haircut of the
craziest color you could possibly imagine (let's give a concrete
example - what if he came dressed in a wedding dress with multiple
earrings, noserings and liprings with a multi-colored hairdo like one
Dennis Rodman did several years ago) simply because he chose to, does
that take away how nice a person he may be or more important in this
case how good a student he is? So what if Dennis Rodman was weird -
it could not be denied he was just as important to the Chicago Bulls
as Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Coach Phil Jackson were because
of who he was beyond his oddities - a God-given great basketball
player. That's the whole point of liberalism - you adapt to what the
people want (individual, minority or majority) and not just what you
people in the upper offices want because you respect our freedom of
choice. We don't deny it is your right to
set the boundaries and set them you should. But the boundaries have
to be 2003 boundaries and not 1963.
3) So this leads to the talk
of a uniform for the male students and the anger of the females over
their new uniform. The battle for equality in terms of the uniform
has been going on for years. It's true that the scale is not balanced
between man and woman in this case. Anyone can deduct that there are
2 simple solutions to this: either (a) no uniform for both male and
female students alike or (b) a uniform for both male and female
alike. Naturally USC is in the process of formally choosing the
latter. Why? Not because of equality, but because there is money to
be made in the latter, just like in the case of the new female
uniform. If this is implemented the same way the female's were, an
expensive exclusively-made uniform for the guys, think of all the
money USC gets out of the males the same way they did out of the
females this semester.
Now, let me leave you with a quote from
"The Matrix" and a quote from the "The Matrix
Reloaded".
MORPHEUS: What is the matrix? Control. The
Matrix is a computer-generated dreamworld designed to keep us under
control, in order to turn a human being into this (a battery).
NEO:
No. It's not possible.
MORPHEUS: I didn't say it would be easy
Neo. I only said it would be the truth.
* Similarly, what is
San Carlos? Control. San Carlos is a corporate-driven dreamworld
designed to keep us under control, in order to turn every student
into this (one big piggy bank)
THE MEROVINGIAN: Choice is an
illusion created between those with power and those without.
*
Similarly, our student rights are an illusion created between those
with power (USC) and those without (the students). They are an
illusion simply because if we choose to exercise them, you return
with a policy that completely negates our rights.
Finally
a closing statement meant for the entire University of San Carlos.
Eyes Only is not perfect. My sources are not perfect. We all know USC
is not either, and neither are you who is reading this. God is the
only person, place or thing that ever will be perfect. If you are a
Catholic institution, at least be bold enough to admit that.
