Guy’s sembreak is coming! I’m sure most of us are so eager to stay over at home after five months of busy-life in the university grounds. If you are staying in a dormitory or in a boarding house, perhaps you are now so excited to be with your family. Especially, if you do have so many stories to share with your parents, bro’s and sis’s; stories about your experiences at school, about your friends, or even about your kilig moments with your gf’s or bf’s. I’m sure you have missed so much your mom’s recipes and her oration speech every early in the morning.
And if you are merely residing here in Marbel together with your family, maybe you are also planning to go somewhere. Or else some of you will often have gimiks with barkadas starting at the very first night of this coming semestral break. Tapzihan, Galaxy, Shell Mart, EMR, Fitmart and KCC Mall, are some of the common spots for gimikeras and gimikeros here in Marbel. Probably, you are one of those who are called “Dota Boys” (players of Dota), presently a popular online game. If you are one of them, now I know where to see you on sembreak. Technodome, Livewire, and some of the computer shops along NDMU complex are common venues for internet and computer games patrons. How about you? Are you now ready for the sembreak? Do you already know what things to do in the whole duration of our short vacation? Take some time to think about it!

 

Productive Vacation
When we speak of productive, it is characterized of fruitful work and accomplishment. Now that we are given a short break, how could we spend this productively? Just think of uncomplicated but productive things to do, like taking a rest to recharge, having a bonding with your family to keep a closed and a good relationship to them. Make your mom smile by helping her doing household chores. You can do even simple things that may help improve your talents and skills. Do whatever good and productive things in spending your vacation.
“Break” means not just a vacation or a rest from work or whatever activity but also getting out of the usual routine. Take a break by learning something new to further enhance yourself that will hopefully lead to exciting possibilities. In spending our semestral break, let us make sure that we are not letting times run without earning gold from it.

 

Body and Mental Relaxation
“Taking a break allows new energy to seep in, so that we become more focused and sharp with renewed enthusiasm for what we are doing,” said Chat Garrido- Ocampo, in her column in Mindanaotimes. “As a derivative, we also relieve ourselves of stress and give our minds, bodies, and spirit a respite from fatigue and boredom,” she added.
Pimples, eye bags, wrinkles, and fats are also signs of stress. Who would not be stressed of five months sleeping late for reviews and doing requirements? Life in college is so stressful. Maybe freshmen students already feel that. Sembreak is a time for us to relax our bodies and minds. Find a place where you will be at ease. Catch normal hours of sleeping. Doing simple household chores and walking or jogging along the streets every early in the morning are already good body exercises.
According to Sandy Maynard of ADDitude magazine, in order to have a body relaxation, you must identify first which muscle groups of your body are tense. Do a head to toe body scan. Tighten your shoulders and curl them forward. Clench your fists and tighten your jaw. Step two is to adjust your posture. If you are slouching, sit or stand tall. Lift your shoulders up and gently let them relax backwards. Then take a deep breath, inhaling and exhaling fully. Close your eyes and envision a relaxing wave or breeze. Create whatever image seems most soothing to you: warm or cool, strong or light, slow or fast. Recall the parts of you body that seemed the most tense. Then envision a wave washing away the tension.
For mental relaxation, any kind of mental meditation will do. If you are worried about something in particular, stop and write it down. Doing so gets the thought out of your head and on to paper. Then put the paper in a locked compartment of your cabinet, and tell it to stay there! Be in a silent and refreshing place you like. Listening to music is also therapeutic. Like a low-bat cell phone, we students need also to recharge for us to be ready for our fights on the next semester.

 

Spending vacation online
We could not deny the fact that we modern teenagers are fond of exploring the cyber-world. Friendster, Tagged, PerfSpot, Hi5, Myspace are some of the most popular websites these days. We can socialize with anybody globally. I believe some of us will be spending most of their times in seating in front of their computers exploring the cyber-world. If you are bored, try finding yourself online. The latest trend in the Internet today is blogging. It allows us expressing ourselves in a high-tech way. It can develop our literary skills. Like me, I’d started blogging last summer of 2006. Instead of sleeping all day long, I’d realized that it would be better if I have something to do wherein I could build up my skills in writing. Then, I’d created my first poetry blog the www.poemster.tk. Ariel Lalisan, the former OMNIANA Editor-in-Chief also found himself online through his blog www.lonelyworld.co.nr ; he has been blogging for more than two years. Last year in his column in OMNIANA, Lalisan stated that blogging keeps his sanity healthy, not just enabling him to express his thoughts through writing and web weaving, he also gains friends. “We share problems, give each other bits of advice, and converse about our little discoveries about life,” he added. For the Dota online gamers, I believe some of you had been cutting classes just to go at your favorite computer shops to play Dota. Now, it is the right time for you to isolate yourselves inside that computer shop. But we must always remember that too much is bad. Let us try to take control of ourselves so that we will not get to the point of an undesirable effect.

Think about it!
Each one of us has dissimilar ideas of what really a productive vacation is. We fluctuate in our desires and situations. It is you who would be spending your own break; nobody can have that for you. It is up to you on how to make it productive because it is merely you who knows for your own good. Do the best thing you can do. Don’t allow yourself stagnantly sleeping on bed without any crops because maybe one morning, the second semester will just wake you up.

 

 

 

 

October 19, 2007, when I got home about 7:00 PM, I was so excited to open the television to watch TV Patrol World of ABS-CBN. Watching TV news is really my usual routine every evening but I was just so worried at that time because an unusual video footage surprised me up when I opened the TV. They stated that there was a bomb exploded inside a mall. When I first heard the news, I’d immediately remembered my mom who was in General Santos City at that time. How I wished that the explosion was not in GenSan.

According to the news report, the bombing was happened in Glorrieta-2 Mall in Makati City. “Thanks God,” I said because it’s too far from GenSan. But until when could I be assured that whoever in my family would never be victimized by any terrorism attacks like this? The worst thing was, Sen. Antonio Trillanes stated his presumption that a terrorist group did not do the bombing in Glorrieta Mall but instead, the government did it since they wanted to place the public’s attention to a new issue. The administration has been facing several issues like; the impeachment complaint against Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, the ZTE Broadband Bill, and the revelation of Pampangga Gov. Ed Panlilio about the attempt of Malacanan to bribe him in exchange of not supporting the impeachment complaint against Pres. Arroyo. Inline with the statement of Sen. Trillanes, the National Security Council decided to investigate him for they had seen a possibility of his involvement in this bombing attack.

October 20, it was reported that Sheik Omar, spokesperson of Rajah Solayman Revolutionary Movement called to the ABS-CBN, claiming that their group is the one, which is responsible in Glorrieta bombing.
Omar stated that their demand is to free their leader Amad Santos who was also the mastermind in the Super Ferry bombing attack. Another reason was to give a lecture to the government since a lot of Muslims died due to their attacks in Mindanao. Sheik Omar’s real name is Reuben Omar Ravilla, he is also a former professor in the University of the Philippines- Diliman. PNP and AFP are now strengthening the security in Metro Manila, especially in LRT and MRT stations.

I’ve been living here in Mindanao for almost 18 years. I’ve been dealing with several people from different minorities like Muslims. Muslims are good, their principles are just almost the same like what we have Christians. I don’t believe that terrorism is a part of their Jihad, which we usually define as a holy war. Jihad is not a war because there is no such honor in war and death. Jihad is a struggle or a sacrifice for a common good. Those Islamic revolutionaries that kill innocent people are not Muslims in practice. They are just leaving an embarrassment and stigma to their religion.

“Interfaith dialogue is the best solution for this problem and not a violence,” said Bishop Dinulado D. Gutierrez, D.D, during his pastoral visit in the Notre Dame of Marbel University last August 17, 2007.

“Oh my God!” shouted Mr. Chico Garcia, NDMU MassCom professor when I consulted him regarding my article in Omniana- the official student publication of the Notre dame of Marbel University. The said article was my first attempt in writing for investigative news. I was just so worried because when the paper was released I had noticed that there was a clerical error on my article.

The article was all about the core value of NDMU which is the Integrity of Creation and the mining company Sagittarius Mines Incorporated. The article did not aim to make the readers adhere into my own view regarding the issue. I’d written the article objectively with all the valid facts and information. But when I happened to read the headline of my article, I was just so madly surprised because something changed the thought of the headline, and it was really subjective. When I wrote the headline, it was like this “SMI; a threat to the integrity of creation?” but on the paper it appeared without a question mark; “SMI; a threat to the integrity of creation” the absence of the question mark really changed the thought of the headline and as well it does not follow with what really the article talks about.

I really worried about it then; I approached Mr. Chico Garcia, my professor in Campus Journalism subject. Same as my reaction when I first read the headline, he was somewhat shocked and worried because that would really create a problem to the publication and most especially to the writer. My partner on that article was Rose Vannelou Ramos, one of the OMNIANA’s Board of Editors. She’d let me write and research for the article and she was also the one who edited the draft. According to Mr. Garcia, the best solution for that is we have to write a public apology like erratum on our next issue stating that there was an unintentional error. He also advised that we have to keep our draft, reporter’s notebook, and other files for the said article because they would really serve as evidences if somebody would complain.

Until now, I am still worried about it. This is my first time to be involved in a publication like this. I believe that it would really serve as a lesson for me and for the rest of the staff that next time; we have really to thoroughly check our articles to avoid problems.

Scene 1

Dodong has two sisters, Inday, and Kakay. They love eating
together. One day after eating their lunch Dodong had just pushed his chair back from the dinner table, then acted to go out to play basketball with his friend Bornok.
Dodong: The desert was good ate Inday.
Inday: I’m glad you liked it! But wait, where are you going now?
Dodong: I’m going to play basketball with Bornok.
Inday: What about the dishes? It’s your turn to the dishes.
Dodong: No, it’s not!
Inday: I’d washed the dishes last night and now, it’s your turn.
Dodong: But I’d cleaned my room a while ago!
Inday: Because it’s your responsibility to clean your own room.
Dodong: Why don’t you let Kakay do the dishes?
Kakay: I am going to help ate Inday to cut the grasses outside.
Dodong: You must do the dishes first!
Kakay: You should wash the dishes, Dodong!
Inday: All I know is that after cooking, I shouldn’t do the dishes
too. I can’t do everything while mamang is away.
Dodong: You don’t do everything, papang does a lot of the
cleaning, and I do the gardening.
Inday: Well, cooking for a family is still the hardest work!
Kakay: Yes, you’re right ate Inday!
Dodong: So what am I going to do?
Inday: I am not going to do the dishes.
Dodong: And I am not too.
Inday: One of you should do the dishes.
Kakay: What?
Dodong: That’s unfair!
Inday: What’s unfair, Dodong? Now, which one of you will wash the dishes?

Kakay hurried away from the dining table and went outside to cut grasses. No one of them volunteered to wash the dishes.
Kakay: Well, I have to go outside, I’d promised mamang to clean up the backyard and cut
off the grasses.
Dodong: Well, I’ll go outside to play basketball with Bornok. Cleaning a room is enough
work for one day! I will not wash the dishes!
Inday: My goodness, Dodong!

Scene 2:

Down the street went Dodong, right by the park where he had wanted to play basketball with Bornok.
Bornok: I’d waited so long, Dodong!
Dodong: Sorry Bornok, my ate Inday wanted me to wash the dishes and we argued so
much about it.
Bornok: Oops, sorry Dodong, I need to go now!
Dodong: Why? Where are you going?
Bornok: I will go with my lola to the church! Bye now!
Dodong: Okay, bye…I’ll just go to my uncle Tonyo!

Scene 3:

Dodong went to his uncle Tonyo’s house.
Uncle Tonyo: Sit down, Dodong. You look as if you’re about to blow up!
Dodong: I guess I did blow up a little.
Uncle Tonyo: Why? What happened? Something wrong?
Dodong: Inday, Kakay, and I are always having blow-ups about doing the dishes.
Uncle Tonyo: Who’s fault is that?
Dodong: Maybe I should have done those dishes, I don’t like to fight with ate Inday and
Kakay. But I’m sure, I did more work today than they did.
Uncle Toyo: You and your sisters should find a way to work together. You too, you must
help them.
Dodong: I feel so guilty of refusing to help ate Inday.
Uncle Tonyo: So what are you waiting for? Go home and help them do the things!
Dodong: Yes that’s right! Thank you, uncle Tonyo! See you next time!
Uncle Tonyo: Yeah, see you next time too, Dodong!