Archers, Blue Eagles take on Tigers in 'Varsi' row

MANILA, Philippines – The Archers won’t let arrows fly into the Tigers’ camp on this one, but the Blue Eagles are raring to show their talons. The official student organ of De La Salle University has responded to the scathing attack of the University of Santo Tomas’s Varsitarian against pro-RH bill professors of Ateneo and DLSU with one word: respect.

The Ateneo’s official student organ Guidon used a more castigating tone, however, on its counterpart, calling “unacceptable” the use of “offensive” and “dismissive” language by the Varsitarian in attacking DLSU and Ateneo for not taking a unified, hardline stance against the RH bill despite being Catholic schools

 While commending the Varsitarian for taking a courageous stand against RH bill, The LaSallian said the editorial in the Catholic university’s student organ did the cause of encouraging enlightened debate a big disservice by resorting to ad hominems and name calling.

A similar theme was echoed in another DLSU student publication, Ang Pahayagang Plaridel of its Dasmarinas, Cavite campus.

The LaSallian’s response online came as the UST management issued a statement on its official FB page, distancing itself from the name-calling that had marred the editorial, and drew flak from social media. The Varsitarian editorial castigated Ateneo and DLSU for not sanctioning professors who endorsed the RH bill, saying that Catholic universities must weigh in on the side of the church hierarchy on the debate.

But in its response, The LaSallian reminded the UST writers of the papal encyclical that encourages all Catholics to rigorously study and ponder issues of the day, in order to arrive at a reasoned stand.

“Precisely because we are members of a Catholic University, following Pope John Paul II’s encyclical letter Ex Corde Ecclesiae and its challenge to university students, we encourage our individual staff to make personal judgments that may guide them to truth. Perhaps we may make recommendations, but we would never impose on the freedom of conscience (ECE II, Art. 2, sec. 4).”

The LaSallian did not release an official stand on House Bill no. 4244, or the now re-named Responsible Parenthood Bill, “despite numerous requests and pressure from a majority of our own members, as well as various University stakeholders. .. because we respected, and we continue to respect, every person’s right to have his or her own informed opinion, including our individual editors and staffers.”

The LaSallian added: “What we stand for in many issues is the process of discernment, and for one’s personal stand and conviction to surface from rigorous research, contemplation, and discourse, before pursuing determined action.

"In this publication, we believe in independent thought, and we encourage our staffers to go against any norms in public opinion and rightfully deconstruct, and discern their own beliefs through issue-oriented critical thinking, if and only if it is what they believe in, and for as long as they too would respect the rights of others to voice an opinion contrary to their own."

While saying they “applaud UST’s official student publication for declaring their stance with such great conviction,” the LaSallian lamented that “the method of expression used to express the matter veered away from the real issue, while creating new and unnecessary ones.”

The RH Bill is an “important issue that deserves constructive discourse,” said the DLSU student writers, adding “none of this constructive discourse, however, can come from ad hominem lambasting from any of the parties involved, whether Pro-RH or Anti-RH. We believe in sticking to the issues, and backing conclusions with substantial, objective arguments.”

Ateneo’s Guidon responds

The Guidon released its own statement Tuesday titled, "Our duties as student journalists" and called The Varsitarian's use of offensive and dismissive language "unacceptable."

It said that a student publication should promote "rational dialogue and fruitful exchange of ideas" within the student community and that what The Varsitarian wrote in its editorial was a "disservice" to its readers.

"The Varsitarian may be the official student newspaper of a pontifical university, but it is still a student newspaper. The stands that it must make are not exempt from the basic expectations of respect, decency and logical sense—valid demands on any credible publication," The Guidon said.

The Guidon, however, steered clear of tackling the Reproductive Health bill itself, which over 140 Ateneo professors have rallied behind despite the Jesuit university's official stand against it.

Ateneo's student paper said that The Varsitarian should "reevaluate itself" and to "point its penchant for impassioned critique unto itself and hopefully establish itself as a publication worthy of its readers’ respect." With a report from Abigail Kwok, InterAksyon.com

source: interaksyon.com

VIDEO: Donations go viral for grandmother bullied by busload of school children

NEW YORK - Video of a US grandmother being bullied by a busload of school kids went viral on Thursday, tugging at the heart strings of sympathetic strangers who donated more than $330,000 to send her on a trip to recover from the ordeal.

The 10-minute video of school bus monitor Karen Klein being harassed by 12- and 13-year-olds went viral shortly after it appeared on YouTube and Facebook late Tuesday.

The cell phone clip shows the 68-year-old grandmother of eight trying her best to ignore taunts such as "fat ass" and "asshole" on a middle school bus in the town of Greece, near the city of Rochester in New York state.

The students also harass the white-haired woman about her weight, her hearing aid and her hairdo. One even leans in and says he will urinate on her front door, while others make rude gestures, laugh and even poke her.

Klein did not report the abuse but the video -- captured by a student on the bus -- quickly became an Internet sensation.

With a goal of sending Klein on a vacation to recuperate from the trauma, the website indiegogo.com launched an online fundraising drive and quickly surpassed its goal of raising $5,000. By late afternoon on Thursday, it had amassed a staggering $338,650.

"God bless you, Karen!!" said one post on the site, signed Rachel. "I don't know how you handled yourself with such grace in such a horrible situation."

"It completely broke my heart, and I knew I had to contribute," says another post, signed Caroline.





Klein told television broadcaster NBC that she had been picked on before by her young charges.

"They just could be really nasty," she said. "I want the boys punished but I don't know how."

As for the outpouring of support, Klein said she was "amazed."

"I've got, I don't know, the nicest letters, emails, Facebook messages," she said. "And it's like, wow, there's a whole world out there that I didn't know. It's just really awesome."

School authorities, meanwhile, have said the four students involved in the taunting would be disciplined.

The underaged harassers, whose names and phone numbers surfaced online, were also getting a dose of unwanted attention from the public.

Greece Police Captain Steve Chatterton told AFP that one student's cell phone had 700 threatening messages.

"We are trying to get people to stop because it really serves no purpose," the chief said, adding it was no different from the bullying on the bus.

source: interaksyon.com

Dream come true

Aaron Enrick Gernarde, 18, had mixed feelings when he heard the news that President Obama is putting an end to the deportation of undocumented students.

“Sana green card na agad,” he was exuberant at first and skeptical next. “Is that a sure thing. And then what?”

Aaron and his family came to the country on tourist visas when he was 10. He studied at Flushing High School in Queens, played basketball in the park around his neighborhood and pledged allegiance to the American flag. He’s all-American but not on paper.

Aware of his family’s immigration status, he said he was afraid to go out of the house, even to go to school. Pulitzer Award-winning journalist Jose Antonio Vargas’ act of outing himself as an undocumented immigrant inspired him, he said.

Aaron is among the estimated 800,000 undocumented immigrant youth who will be given the opportunity to live and work in the U.S. without the fear of deportation. Obama signed an executive order on June 15 allowing so-called Dream Act children to stay in the country without fear of being deported and enable them to find jobs. The government denied it is an act of amnesty and maintained it is “not a grant of citizenship.”

“This is a new policy that grants deferred action to undocumented youth who were brought to the U.S. as children and who have been raised and educated as Americans in the U.S.,” explained lawyer Guerrero Yee. “This policy will allow thousands of eligible persons between the ages of 15 and 30 years old to apply for deferred action and U.S. work authorization in two-year renewable increments.”

Many Filipino Americans welcomed the news.

“President Obama is finally standing up for issues that he believes in,” said professor of psychology Kevin Nadal. “So although people may accuse him of vocalizing these positions merely for votes, I actually admire him for standing up finally for social justice.”

“We do have students who will benefit from this policy,” community college professor Suzanne Lansangan-Sabangan told The FilAm. “After all it is not their fault that they got here in the first place.”

Immigrant rights organizer Christina Baal said President Obama should be applauded.

“This is really a happy day. We in the immigrants’ rights and labor community are celebrating the entry of talented and energetic youth into our workforce,” she said.

The National Federation of Filipino American Associations or NaFFAA commended journalist Jose Antonio Vargas for “taking great risks in calling attention to the plight of these young people.”

“As Vargas puts it, ‘They grew up here, they were educated here, and they have so much to give back to the country they call home,’” NaFFAA said in a statement.

The organization reiterated its call for Congress to pass the DREAM Act and “end the nightmare of a generation of young people who are Americans and deserve to have the basic rights that all Americans enjoy.”

source: thefilam.net