VP’s PEN Workshop opens new frontiers

“This is truly a breakthrough for the publication, a breakthrough activity,” quipped Aian Perucho, a Philippine Collegian alumnus and one of the guest speakers for The PEN Workshop, when asked what he can say about the activity. The said event is organized by Viewpoint with the help of College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP) in the vision of providing relevant journalism skills and creative writing training for the staffers of the publication and to Araullians interested in the same field.

Delivering the News

Last September 14, the Data Gathering, Interviewing, and News Writing seminar took place, where the participants were given the opportunity to learn through the activities incorporated such as the mock interview and a critique of their work. CEGP National Secretary General Marc Lino Abila annd CEGP-Central Luzon Deputy Secretary General Jerome Estavillo acted as speakers for the said event, providing insight on the tasks of the journalists.

A PEN for the Society

For the second wave of the training held last September 21, Viewpoint collaborated with Kabataan Partylist (KPL) National Coordinator Mark Troy Oliva who encouraged the participants to write about the society as he discussed the economic and educational condition of the Philippines.

Highlighting Literature

As its swan song exit, The PEN Workshop conducted the last wave of trainings this September 28, focusing on Creative Writing and Literary Criticism. CEGP's Education Officer Jian Carlo Gomez and Viewpoint’s Editor-in-Chief Dan Kevin Roque sat down for the analysis of the literary pieces of the participants.

New Frontiers

All in all, 144 Araullians expressed their interest in joining the said workshop. “As the Filipino Youth, we must read and write. We must study the society so that we understand our objective situation,” Abila said in the vernacular when asked to give a message to the participants of the workshop. Mary Joyce Jopson

Viper Manifesto

Front Page of Viewpoint

(Illustration by Melanilene Balot)

“The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The ones who see things differently.” – Craig Tanimoto It is very hard to convert a non-believer; to agitate and activate a passive, apathetic person. Especially, since the medium by which we reach the studentry is through writing. It is very easy to ignore a piece of paper that your fellow students labored for. And that has been Viewpoint’s story in the past year. Despite all our efforts to reach the consciousness of the studentry, we have often been seen as renegades. Loose cannons. The crazy ones. From the very conception of Viewpoint, it has been maligned – we were called de facto, unofficial, underground, and a lot of other things. Every time we publish an issue, our opinion is condemned. There came a moment when even our silence is vilified. All because we see things differently. Just because we stir things up, because we want change. Sadly, we were thought of as people who are not proud of the institution that we belong to. Seeing something wrong with the system and commenting on it doesn’t qualify us as prodigal sons and daughters of our alma mater. We just want to see improvement in the state of our beloved University. The system is not the institution, and the institution is not the system. And while it is easy to doubt why we do this – why we say the things we say and do the things we do – let us remind everyone that if not for our drive to serve our fellow Araullians, we would have given up long ago. It is so much easier to just fade into the background. To be an ordinary student. Any pompous, self-serving propagandist could not have weathered the storms we have faced as a publication. To clarify a few points, we reiterate what we have stated in our CEGP incident report: We do not see ourselves as anti-administration, instead we see ourselves as a pro-students. It just so happened that there are points where the two philosophies go in different directions. Also, we do not seek personal benefit from what we do. We wish only to contribute to the pride of the Araullian community, to add to its already rich and wonderful heritage of student-leadership and excellence. So here we are. We remain standing and strong, despite many attempts to silence us. That alone is proof of victory – not our victory, but the triumph of democracy, of our inherent right to freedom of speech and expression. And we will remain strong, as long as there are student interests and rights to protect. As the AUSSG’s credo goes: “For the student’s rights, we remain!” True universities are places of light and learning; places that foster critical thinking and encourage free thought and speech; places that value the individuality and dynamism of its students. Thus, we proudly claim that our existence is a proof that our beloved Araullo qualifies as one of them.Dan Kevin Roque

Viewpoint welcomes 14 new student journalists

The new Vipers pose with their seniors in the teambuilding held last July 12, at Dingalan, Aurora.
(Photo by Kenneth Garcia)

Viewpoint inducted the new Editorial Board, including two new secretarial staff, three artists, and nine writers after the Editorial Board Examinations held last July 5. The new student-journalists are:

1. Abril Layad Ayroso   2^nd year     AB English
2. Mary Joyce Jopson  1^st year      BEEd
3. LheaVergara               1^st year      BSEd English
4. Rommel Ortaleza       4^th year      AB English
5. Judiel Bautista           1^st year      BS Accountancy
6. Jhonelle Joy Ulidan  1^st year      BS Accountancy
7. John Aldrich Leigh    1^st year      BSIT
8. Hanniel Grace Barte  3^rd year      BEEd
9. Novabelle Pascua      2^nd year     BS Civil Engineering
10. April Rose Sepaya     1^st year      BEEd
11. Bryanndela Cruz        1^st year      BSBA, Marketing
12. Jonarddelos Santos  1^st year     BSEd, English
13. Carlena Joy Santos    1^st year      AB English
14. Jezzamine Garcia       1^st year       BS HRM

Vipers as they conduct a program for the beneficiaries of the BLT outreach program.
(Photo by Carlena Joy Santos)

Vipers as they hold a feeding program for the beneficiaries of BLT.
(Photo by Carlena Joy Santos)

The newly inducted student-journalists, together with the incumbent staff members, conducted an outreach and teambuilding program in Brgy. Paltic, Dingalan, Aurora last July 12. Dan Kevin Roque