Windows of Opportunity

Today just happened to be one of those days that had me spending an inordinate amount of time outside the classroom. Apart from having a chance to finish up some field work for my major subjects, I also had more than enough time to talk to the different candidates, as well as collect some SPOAs (finally!) as well as a few more GPOAs. Unfortunately, due to certain logistical concerns, I could not collect all the materials I wanted. Therefore, I will not attempt a point-by-point comparison of all of the SPOAs and GPOAs per college, but rather, I will focus on the highlights of some of the materials that I gathered.

Thrust of the General Program of Action: "Lakas ng nagkakaisang Lasalyanong nangunguna sa pagbuo ng bansang progresibo." This can be translated into putting Lasallians at the forefront of nation building. Apparently, (if I am to interpret the Tapat's EB candidates correctly), the Student Council, both the Executive Board and the College Assembles, is to become a means for training and empowering LaSallians to become empowered citizens. This is evident in the way that Tapat has been tying in the GPOAs and thrusts with the need to prepare students for the 2010 national elections.

Thrust of the Specific Programs of Action: "Student Centered Student Council". Basically, Santugon platforms seem to focus on creating and implementing pro-student policies, as well as encouraging proactive student participation in the Student Council and its projects for the upcoming year. Internally focused yet relevant policies all the same. Santugon programs do require increased cooperation with the faculty and the administration of the university. This is an admirable goal that does pose a whole new set of challenges in addition to the already existing ones.

GPOA for the College of Liberal Arts: "Kalinga CLA". Finally, I got to talk to Veron, Betti, and Tats just to clarify what this program is meant to be. In line with Ron Semira's goal of using student competencies for nation building, basically the CLA students will be using their learnings and skills to assist an "adopted" community. Personally, I did feel a little ambivalent about this plan. I am thrilled to see how Liberal Arts (an area sometimes deemed as socially irrelevant) can become useful in nation-building. In fact, there is a lot of good skills-training, leadership training and interpersonal growth that can come out of directly involving Liberal Arts majors in competency-related projects. However, I really hope that we will not resort to the usual fallback of scheduling endless tutoring sessions in depressed communities. This is a much needed change--I challenge ANYONE to help the College of Liberal Arts out here!

SPOA for the College of Engineering: This SPOA is unique for its especial dedication to making the College of Engineering a center of excellence. Many of the programs here seek to assist engineering students with their academic concerns, to provide better course projection and even financial aid, as well as to promote unity within the college. This is good news for the COE, which is known for its difficult coursework and steep tuition fees. This particular SPOA however does not put as much emphasis on sociocivic work unlike the other SPOAs being distributed this year. As of now, the sociocivic aspect of the COE SPOA is limited to a short description of fundraisings for future projects. Hopefully this will be given more detail in the future...or tomorrow's Miting de Avance.

GPOA for the College of Education: This is one GPOA that aims very high (and to be honest, I understand why this has to be the case). Service oriented curriculum, teacher-leaders, and promoting a culture of excellence: these are the kinds of things that require more than just a single school year to accomplish. The service-oriented curriculum part alone will only be fulfilled when EDGE 2008 is about to graduate. Still, it's never too early to start, right?

SPOA for the College of Science: This is the SPOA that has an "ate/kuya" program: a kapatiran system for incoming freshmen to be paired with upperclassmen who will guide them around DLSU and help them adjust to college life. This is one scenario though that will probably have some COS upperclassmen mentoring two or more freshmen at any given point in time, owing to the admittedly high "mortality" in this college. To address the actual "mortality", the assistance offered in this SPOA extends beyond freshman year: mandatory consultations, NMAT reviews, and OJT exposure are also being offered for upperclassmen. That's a lot of promises to come through with though.

GPOA for the College of Business and Economics: Excellent and socially responsible business leaders is the vision of this GPOA. Perhaps this could be the GPOA that will defy the CBE-related stereotype of "walang iniiisip maliban sa pera." Corporate social responsibility is given the same weight as academic excellence, as well as alliances and cooperation with other organizations and sectors. Transparency, accountability and participation in college decisions are also highlighted here, in a context slightly different from the more academically related points of the previous principles. I find this GPOA to be one of the more feasible plans of action. Still, I'd like to see if the up and coming leaders can ensure that the transparency and accountability aspects of the GPOA do not remain solely within the student council level, but become part of the learning atmosphere they wish to promote in this college.

SPOA for the College of Computer Studies: Keeping CCS students connected--to their courses (helping reduce the failure rate in major subjects), to the university (through implementation of policies, etc), and to external linkages is a key feature of this SPOA. This SPOA is actually very concrete in its way of tackling everything from matters as simple as the sockets and bulletin boards in the Gokongwei building, all the way up to ambitious projects such as curriculum review and an e-waste recycling program. The thing that bugged me though about this SPOA was a series of formatting errors that made at least two paragraphs/bullet points a bit difficult to differentiate.

But of course, this is only half of the equation

The other half of course is the student body. However, I seriously fear that a good portion of the students are becoming indifferent to this entire electoral process, and may even abstain from voting. While some of their reasons are understandable, there is still the fact that abstinence from suffrage represents a lost window of opportunity.

Window of opportunity? I believe so. After a trying year for the SC, I think that this election is one of those "make or break" opportunities. The kind of leadership that emerges in the next few days as well as the electorate that supports them will determine whether the SC will truly become a relevant force in student life and nation building, or if the SC will fail to fully involve another generation of LaSallians in its many goals and efforts.

This is the time when many preparations will be in order. It is almost time for the PAASCU reaccreditation. Plans are underway for the Centennial celebration of this university. Now if the students want to see an SC that meets the standards of a world-class university like DLSU, the students need to vote and participate in student government. An SC that does not have the mandate of the student body is at best crippled.

This, in my opinion is the crucial election for Batch 2007. For many of the students in this batch, next school year is their last full academic year in the university. This is the academic year that will probably have Batch 2007 at the helms of student organizations and projects. This is the academic year that has leaders from Batch 2007 in the executive board and as college assembly presidents. At the very least, the leaders elected next week will be the ones featured in Batch 2007's copies of Green and White. Now who would you want to remember as the student leaders of your graduating year? :)

Friday: the debate and the miting de avance. I don't know if I'll be able to cover the miting de avance...but I do pray that this year's proceedings will unfold with more passion and less drama than last year's.

For the net-savvy radio addicts: Tune in to Green Giant, the official radio station of DLSU. On Saturday, at about 5pm, the EB candidates will be debating on air. You can access Green Giant through the official website: http://greengiantfm.dlsu.edu.ph.