Special Problem: The Proposal
It's been a turbulent semester for me lately, that's why I have not been blogging here for the past few months, but I was able to post things in my Tumblr log to keep myself going. On my Tumblr log was all about the Azkals and their rise to fame, not to mention some comic relief from all the stress of schooling.
Anyways, this semester marked the start of my very challenging journey towards graduation from UP Mindanao.
And it starts with my Special Problem Proposal.
All the ideas were pouring in from all sides, from algorithm studies, the UPMin CSRS, biodiversity systems and many others. But one thing came into my mind... my contribution to Himati, our University's official student publication.
I am a member of the publication since last academic year and it paid off with a successful run of my video blog The ISKOnnector. But things have changed lately and I have changed my intentions as I rejoined the team this year. I was now there to help revamp Himati.
I am saddened that Himati could not set its plans really well considering our campus has only a meager population. We are short of funds, short of staff, but we were not short of hope that one day, Himati will be recognized as a pioneer in promoting Journalism 2.0 in the Davao region.
We have started it with Himati's Facebook and Twitter sites, HimatiVlogs, and the electronic version of Himati via Scribd. Now that the first steps have been stabilized, now it's the time to move forward.
We have been planning to make an official website for Himati. All the funds and assistance have been in place, but no-one cared about how to maintain it and how to implement it. There I said to myself, "I have to give Himati more than a website, more than a Content management system-backed platform. I want to give them an computerized system to do their processes including those of the print publication. Something to make Himati and other student publications can use and enjoy."
So I planned the topic to be:
"A Web Portal for Student Publications..." (Sorry I can't give you the title in full...)
And I will christen the final product to be iHimati.
A system that will help Himati ease up the process of submitting and evaluating articles, and communication through social media tools such as Facebook and Twitter.
I envision the system to be the a new way for Himati staff to process articles and enhance communication. I'll construct it with a two-tier architecture - a public layer which contains the official website and the the content of the Facebook and Twitter sites. The private layer, on the other hand, will be the backbone system wherein the staff can submit articles, evaluate articles, manage staff members and communicate through social media tools.
During the proposal process, I had a very difficult time searching for literature as there are few published academic papers that focus on the combination of journalism process with computing technology. All I know is that major news outputs such as wires like Associated Press, Reuters and Agence-France Presse use proprietary technologies to process their news.
What I want is a open-source and low-cost alternative - which will greatly benefit small organizations such as Himati.
The hard part was to explain the intricacies I want to convey for the system. All the diagrams, database illustrations and all other drawings I had to produce to make the paper as clear as possible.
Well, it had been a bloody ride there, but I had survived as I was able to reach the point that I defended the proposal.
And I can't thank enough for this than to my family who supported me all they way no matter what circumstances I have gone through this past semester.
And I thank the LORD for everything He has done for me this far. Thank You for the strength.
On to the finish line!
KENNETH
