You're Dismissed

“A PEN Student’s words carry weight. He is honest, trustworthy, and has consistency in words and actions.” – Integrity, PEN Values, the PEN Student Handbook Tertiary Level

illustration by Melanilene Balot 

It is examinations season once again, and we students must face tons of schoolwork. To top all this off, there is once again the threat to succumbing to the temptation of every student’s ancient frenemy – cheating.

Understandably, students are distressed by the fact that they must study for practically all their subjects at the same time. It doesn’t help that deadlines for projects, group works, and other academic requirements fall on the same date. Yet, this is no excuse to resort to such devious measures.

Most of the students do not realize the gravity of their actions. Moreover, the lax attitude of the school personnel and the teachers themselves only serve to aggravate this matter. In fact, the whole community’s outlook serves to make the campus a potential breeding ground of cheaters. We do not want this to happen to our Araullo, beloved.

On the other hand, the PHINMA Education Network formulated the PEN Values to guide their students in their day-to-day actions and interactions. These values are Integrity, Professionalism, Commitment, Competence, Teamwork, and Innovativeness. Ironically, some students fail to comply with the very first value.

The List of Offenses and Corresponding Categories (p. 17-19, PEN Student Handbook Tertiary Level) provides very harsh punishments to those who breach the school standard for Academic Integrity.

For Plagiarism, (1.1) or the use of published information without providing proper recognition to the original author, is punishable with outright dismissal or expulsion on the first offense. For Cheating on Any Graded Work, (1.2) the first offense is punishable with Suspension for three (3) academic days, for which he will incur absences. For the second offense, the offending student shall face dismissal or expulsion. In all cases, the student shall receive the lowest possible score in the graded work concerned.

These are very stringent guidelines, indeed. Sadly, no one seems to take these seriously. If we are to preserve PEN’s mission of preparing the students for global competitiveness, this matter must be addressed immediately and cogently.

For us students, on the other hand, we must start taking our schoolwork seriously. This is a way of preparing ourselves for the real world outside of the campus. When you are already an engineer or a computer programmer, you cannot expect to copy a blueprint or a source code and just get away with it: There are very serious consequences for offenses against intellectual property. As an accountant, you cannot rely on others to do your work for you. For a future teacher, you will serve as a role model for your future students. For a future policeman, you are to be an enforcer of the law and a protector of the people. College is simply the preparation for life, and the more you sweat in time of peace, the less you bleed in war.

Examination results will not dictate your success in the future. Your attitude in life will. So the next time you are tempted to cheat, remember that your actions today will resonate in the future. You carry not only your name but the name of your alma mater as well. Years from now, you will be able to pride yourself for not cheating even in the face of temptation. After all, we are PEN Students, and we can face the examinations with Integrity in all our haggard glory! Dan Kevin Roque

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