Revised from an entry originally posted in My Manila on June 20, 2009

The highlight of the motorcade from Intramuros to Padre Faura were these beauties, parked in front of the Manila Cathedral before everything started. Let’s get one thing straight first: I don’t know anything about cars, so please don’t ask me anything about them. I had to take photos of their logos just to identify them correctly for this post. Neither do I know if they are the correct cars for the Padre Faura years. All I know for sure is, they got everybody ogling them in Intramuros and people clapped when they arrived in Padre Faura

A sky blue MG. There was no model name or number displayed on the car.

Another MG but curvier, so it’s probably a later model.

Mercedes Benz 190 SL

Chevrolet Camaro SS 350

Karmann Ghia, with automatic stickshift. That text was displayed prominently on the car!

Mercedes Benz 280 SE, also automatic. And, yes, that was displayed on the car too.

Ford Mustang 289

Lots of people had their photos taken with their favorite car. My husband Exie, who teaches in the LS English Department, posed with the Camaro.

Which one is your favorite?

My dad passed away last April, after only a month after diagnosis of his illness.  His hospitalization, his non-recovery, his speedy death were a punch to the gut.  My mother also died suddenly more than a decade ago, and I never thought that I would experience almost the same devastation.  Goodbyes were not said, matters left unfinished.  Fr. Dan McNamara warned me to say what I wanted to say to my dad before death — I was able to write a note and hug him tight, but there were words left unsaid, actions left undone.

I put normal life on hold for months, passing on my Ateneo Junior Summer Seminar class to our chair, canceling most talks, postponing counseling sessions with students, neglecting this blog site, refusing invites to serve on a panel or another.  I still taught a class dear to me — problem solving for talented students — with Fr. Nebres.  In fact, Fr. Ben was extremely supportive during this time, visiting my dad, putting me in touch with Dr. Bengzon and Medical City, doing the funeral mass (and also the wedding mass for my brother a few days after my dad’s burial).   That class kept me occupied with matters other than death.

Throughout the ordeal, I have realized (again) what really counts.  Friendship, care, love.  Our former chair Reggie and our secretaries Cora and Edith were at the funeral parlor even before we came, and it was a relief to see them.  Other friends and relatives took care of the food, drinks, Mass, etc., without thought of repayment.  My best friend flew over from Davao to be at the burial.  Recounting the terrible events time and again was painful, but cathartic as well, and friends kept me from collapse.  A student from the summer class, Kenneth, sent something he wrote when his grandpa died, and it did help.  Thank you, everyone. 

Right now I am still in mourning, and wake up most days with a heavy heart.  But I am used to grief, and though it seems endless, I know this too shall pass.  Two weeks ago, I began again counseling students old and new.  I want them to see the beauty of life, and to make the most of what time they have on this earth.

Note: Pipay Villanueva of the Lady Eagles tells us what she’s been up to. Thanks, Pipay!

This morning, Redg was telling us a story of an issue at their company.  In a nutshell, there was an individual who was asking for a commission for his role in the sale of a property.  While the company does pay out commissions, it does so only to real sales agents who facilitate the sales process. They are not in the custom of cutting checks for people call out, “Bili kayo diyan!“ which is essentially what this individual did.

Where money is involved, people are very quick both to claim credit or draw the line. People are very conscious of what is due them and what is not due others.

In academia, where the coin of the realm is research and publication, the same sensitivities should apply but often don’t because of the friendly, collegial atmosphere we like to maintain.  My mother-in-law has a favorite expression: to keep the peace and for the love of God.  Play this game long enough and you’ll learn all sorts of things about people that will impress you and disgust you.

I know of a person, for example, who was contracted to be the content editor of a certain well-known text book.  She was so impressed with the book that she approached the authors and asked if she could be named an author as well. The authors said no (good for them!).

I know of another person who insisted that his name should appear on each one of his advisees’ publications.  While including a professor’s name among authors of a publication is a common practice, it is by no means automatic.  As with all the authors, an adviser has to earn his place.

I’ve known people who have been snubbed as authors.  I’ve been snubbed myself, despite contributions I’ve made to one or the other publication.  I don’t think the snub was deliberate.  I think it was borne out of ignorance.  At the same time, it still stung and you can’t raise the issue without appearing like a credit-hog.

I’ve known people who are overgenerous with giving credit.  My collaborators and I generally err on the side of overcrediting rather than undercrediting for both practical and political reasons.  Of course, that has consequences: you end up diluting the contributions of those who really did do the heavy lifting.

I’ve also known people who have had the delicadeza to opt out of an authorship list because they thought they didn’t do enough.

So the question is: When is credit due?  For the answer, one has to assess the degree to which an individual has contributed substantial creative or intellectual content to the work.  Typically, if the individual helped with the conceptualization of the problem, with the design of the solution, with the analysis of the data or the verification of results, then credit might be due.  Correcting the grammar of sentence 3 or helping giving instructions on how to set up an ANOVA table in SPSS isn’t enough.  Even acting as mock reviewer who reads the paper and gives summative evaluation merits at most an acknowledgement. The inbetween space, though is a grey areas.  What if she recommended a key reference?  What if he helped structure the content of the paper? When do the scales tip from incidental to substantial?  That takes a non-intuitive sensitivity that comes with experience at negotiating your worth.

One way to develop these sensitivities really quickly is to take a leaf out of the commercial world and assign a peso value to credit.  When we in the Ateneo publish, we are eligible to apply for a monetary publication award. This award is divided among the authors.  For the sake of argument, let’s suppose that the monetary award is P10,000. Before assigning a co-author to your work, ask yourself: is what he/she did worth P5,000?  It’s a blunt instrument, but it makes the point.

Taking the longer, perhaps more proper view:  We should be possessive of our work.  We should be territorial.  We should be deliberate about choosing our bedfellows.  To bring anyone into a research project is to open up the ownership of that project.  Sharing is fine as long as you meant to do so from the start.

Note: From the Blue Eagles, Rainier Sison responds to my post “Sound Minds in Sound Bodies.” Thank you, Rain!

I don’t really know whom to address this blog so I’ll just treat it as an update for you.

I graduated last 2000 with a BS MIS degree and wrapped up my MS CS degree in 2004. After completing the fifth year of my UAAP eligibility in 2001, I decided to turn professional for the heck of it. I entered the PBA draft in 2002 and was selected 14^th overall. I played my first 2 seasons with the Shell Turbochargers and my third and last season with the Fedex Express. Playing in the pro ranks was very fulfilling, although nothing beats wearing the blue and white for our alma mater. I had to cut my professional stint short mainly because I never felt comfortable of getting in and out of playing contracts, especially when I knew it was my job. Basketball was fun and I still love playing the game, but I had to work on the long term and on being stable.

And so I moved on to corporate life and decided to make use of the 2 degrees I earned in Ateneo. So far, I feel like I am doing very well in the corporate world.

I am still with Chevron and have been with them for four years now. As far as I have experienced, Chevron reminds me of school and they have a lot of things in common. The most notable similarity is that both institutions, if I may, emphasize on values. In our company, we always emphasize on doing things “the Chevron way” a lot like doing things “the Ateneo way”. My official position and role in the company is a SAP Technical Consultant. I am part of a global team who provides support to all Chevron locations using SAP. So far, I love the people I work with and I am proud to be part of a great company like I am part of a great institution, Ateneo.

The training and preparation in school from being a student-athlete has made everything so much easier after graduation. Time management, never-ending deadlines, countless hours in the gym, hell weeks in school… I can go on and on. Though there are still a lot of challenges ahead of me, I am always confident that my education and core values will be more than enough to see me through. 

By Alya B. Honasan

Being an Atenean means being armed with a whole bunch of non-negotiables that you couldn’t imagine being without.

MY Ateneo education has played a huge part in enabling me to live the life I live and do the work I do. As a print journalist, and having worked with some of the biggest media companies in the country, I’ve met all kinds of people. The opinions are strong, the points of view convincing, and the temptations seductive-which is why it makes all the difference when you know where you stand early in the game.

That’s not to say I didn’t get baffled at times early in my career. But somehow, being an Atenean means being armed with a whole bunch of non-negotiables that you couldn’t imagine being without. And like everything in life, the more you stick to something, the more it becomes part of who you are.

My Ateneo years were among the happiest and most enriching of my life. I made good friends, became a stronger and better person (I think), and cemented my relationship with my God through the people who help bring me closer to Him, with a faith that was truly mine, and not just something I was told about or raised to live by. I would learn that being a “Man for Others” meant a lot more than giving away checks or making chunky donations-it meant giving of yourself, in a variety of situations, to whoever needed you, whether it was someone who ached for a meal, a voice, or a shoulder to cry on.

It was at the Ateneo that I met my first and only spiritual director, who has since become one of my best friends in the world, Sr. Meny Vera Cruz of the Religious of the Cenacle. It all started when three of us Batch ‘86 sychology sophomores would meet with Meny in a tiny room in Colayco Hall about twice a week to pray, talk about problems, and nurture our faith like the growing, evolving thing that it was in us young adults. Today, 25 years later, I still run to Ateneo and the Cenacle when I need guidance and peace. It remains a wellspring of reassurance and comfort to be able to talk about my faith with someone who knows where I’m coming from. Meny and I often quote the spiritual writer Henri Nouwen, who exhorts us to return always to our “solid place”- a place the Ateneo helped me build inside me.

I can say with much confidence that I truly learned to be a writer and a lover of words at the Ateneo. My English teacher, the formidable Prof. Emmanuel Torres, raised our standards of good writing so high I struggled to keep up, and every triumph felt like Christmas Day. I learned the discipline, the openness, the sheer joy of writing, and this passion has buoyed me through my 22-year career. I still get a kick out of seeing my byline in print, and I still give every piece the best I’ve got.

The attitude has helped me achieve some degree of respectability in my career. My main, and often only, motivation has been to tell a good story that will inform, entertain, and enlighten people, whether I’m writing about a controversial issue or the coffee shop down the road. I remember being thrown into a state of panic when an early interview subject gifted me with an expensive bag after the session. My editor Letty Jimenez-Magsanoc of the Philippine Daily Inqurer laughed and told me, “As long as it doesn’t come in an envelope, and as long as your conscience doesn’t bother you. And I trust your conscience.” I guess she remembered that I was an Atenean.

I still haven’t done anything that has cost me much sleep, and I still haven’t stuffed any envelopes of money into my bag (or, as is done today, slipped somebody my bank account number-hey, even bribery has gone high-tech, what can you do?). Other than the occasional goodwill present and my personal favorites, the bilao of pancit or the chocolate cake, I’ve never received anything in exchange for a story other than my salary.

I’m now back to being a freelance writer and editor, so it’s unlikely I am ever going to sit on top of any media conglomerate or receive a lot more pancit (which is better for my health, actually). But I do know that, in my own small way, I am helping make my country a better place with my words, and the light they can sometimes bring. It’s a pretty solid game plan-as it should be, I guess, for every Atenean.

Alya B. Honasan graduated with an A.B. Psychology degree from the Ateneo de Manila University in 1986. Alya is the former editor in chief of the Sunday Inquirer Magazine. Currently she does free-lance editing and writing projects for various organizations. Her passions are scuba diving and Banana, her yellow Labrador.

Note: Erika Paman-Mercado provides this second response to my “Sound Minds in Sound Bodies.” Thank you, Erika!

I work as a Lead/Scheduling Analyst for the Nevada-based Zappos.com, the web’s largest online shoe retailer. I forecast and project call volume for Zappos’ Customer Loyalty Team, and analyze metrics related to the department’s productivity and performance.

My best takeaways from being an Atenean athlete are perseverance, passion, and faith. Our team was never gifted with the skills to compete with the athletes from other schools, but that did not prevent us from persevering and competing at the highest level all the time. We did not always have the best win-loss record, but we always competed to win and we consider losses as opportunities for improvement. Our team’s foundation is faith - we began and ended games/practices with a prayer and we cheered for our teammates non-stop. In the same aspect, I never cease to give my best at the workplace, I consider work as a form of art, and I thank God for giving me the opportunity to work and excel in an amazing company that’s all about delivering happiness and world-class service.

By Roy Agustin

It was warm in campus as I wandered the silent halls of Ateneo de Manila University at 3 in the afternoon of June 14.  I was there to watch the climax of the sesquicentennial launch, the program at the Church of the Gesu, the centrally located church of the Ateneo’s Loyola Heights campus.  Actually, it was more than warm; it was downright sweltering as I strolled around the sleepy campus.  A guard informed me that the motorcade was still in Pasig and would be making its way to Loyola soon.  The motorcade was just part of the entire ceremonies during the day, which began at 7AM at the old Padre Faura campus in Intramuros, Manila.  From those initial ceremonies, which included the gathering of relics to be turned over to the other schools, the motorcade wound its way through the various schools of Ateneo, covering both the De La Costa and Rockwell campuses in Makati, which housed the professional, law, and graduate school of business, turning over relics to each one in simple ceremonies.  The motorcade also went by the newly formed medical school in Pasig, right behind the Medical City hospital, from which they were expected to make their arrival at main campus at Loyola.

Banners were raised marking the Sesquicentennial along the entrance, which made for an impressive site as they fluttered in the ever strengthening, but still balmy, breeze.  A smattering of alumni already were wandering around in various forms of dress, some as formal as shirtsleeves and slacks, others in shorts and sandals.  Photographers were busily snapping away, some for publications, others for posterity.  There were also the various groups of entertainers already rehearsing, often to the applause of those already waiting for the convoy.  The relics were being readied, the ROTC officers were being briefed.  It was a peaceful, even somber scene.  I watched everyone go through the preparations with judicious amounts of care and, interestingly enough, silence.

Until the Babble came.

Somber preparation gave way to excitement as the Blue Babble Battalion and Band began to troop in, carrying their well-worn instruments.  Suddenly, people were perking up, even as they kept at the rehearsals.  People moved more quickly now, their gestures and speech were more urgent.  The cheerleaders were dressing up and rehearsing their movements, the drummers lifting their drums to their stands.  Trombones, trumpets, and saxophones were out, glistening even in the steadily darkening sky.  Kite fliers and dog walkers, with the dogs suitably dressed with Ateneo jerseys, appeared, and the word finally came: the motorcade was here.

Thunder erupted from the bass drums, familiar cadences rang through the campus as the Babble began to call everyone together.  The sound beat alongside my own heartbeat as lights came into view, dozens of them flashing with a different rumble coming from the motorcade itself.  As they came closer, the sources of the rumbles were clear.  Alumni in their bikes had joined, large growling machines joined the booming drums and fanfare.  Soon, the rest of the motorcade followed as vehicle upon vehicle drove by the entrance, bringing with them the rain.  They continued past the church and on towards the High School, where they would do one round before finally settling back at Gesu to begin the ceremony.

More relics were turned over, with the Grade School, High School, and the College getting one valued artifact each, all in commemoration of the University’s beginnings in Padre Faura 150 years ago.  The postmaster general will be issuing special stamps in commemoration of the event.  A new song by Arnel de Pano was performed by the Ateneo Glee Club.  The Ateneo Chamber Singers and  [I can't remember their names] also joined in song, regaling the audience with their talent and music.  We all enjoyed the music even as the rains outside poured in.  Finally, more thunder came, this time coming from fireworks launched just as dusk fell.  The thunder would echo on for a few moments more even as the rain continued to pour.  I couldn’t help but smile, drenched as I was, as I listened to the last echoes fade.  Ateneo’s 150 years have just begun.

Note: In response to my “Sound Minds in Sound Bodies” post, Stephanie Sy of the Lady Eagles wrote the following note.  Thank you, Steph!

I am a project manager currently based in London. I manage branded custom solution projects for MSN. Our projects range from interactive websites to Messenger games for our partner clients.

I consider myself fortunate to have the opportunity to study in Ateneo and play for the Lady Eagles. Both have contributed a lot to my work and life. The Ateneo education has provided me with the technical know-how to do my job and has also taught me to be creative in problem solving. Playing for the Lady Eagles, on the other hand has taught me soft skills that I need to perform in my job.  Teamwork and good communication skills are some of the essential skills you can’t live without when working in big corporations that operate globally. Teamwork is important because you will always work in a team where you will succeed or fail as a team. Clear verbal or written communication is always essential as you will usually work with people who are in different locations and in different time zones.

PS: Basketball has also opened up opportunities to meet new friends in new places. So no matter where I am, I know it won’t be difficult to find like minded friends anywhere in the world.