KENNETH PORIO | the blog

This is the continuation of the School is Back...Back to School (Part 1). The Fresh New Look of the UP Min Admin Building After several months of tiling here, repairing there and painting everywhere, the new façade of the UP Mindanao Administration Building. From the dull-looking, grayish-and-rustic looking edifice that looks like a deserted factory, the Admin Building now really is a decent building for a constituent of the prestigious National University . I may be happy and glad that the UP Administrators had put up with this beautification of the campus. I wonder if they will do quick wonders to the Kanluran (CSM) Building in the future, too. Classes, Schedules and Teachers With a schedule that now includes Mondays... I can't believe if I'll be under enormous stress or not... Here is the list of what we have started for this semester: CMSC21 Lec: Sir Tecson gave us an overview on Programming Languages, and a quick review Variables and Data Types that we have learned in...

Dear friends, It's almost Christmas and it's the last week of classes for the year 2007 here in UP Mindanao. It was another time to answer examinations, and this week, all my major subjects had their First Long Examination! Gosh, I've studied very well for this! During the MATH26 examination last Tuesday, I was still too overwhelmed by my colds (It was RAINING HARD the whole day)...and I can't concentrate well. So, I was not very confident enough with my answers on solving the worded problems, especially the problem about solving the distance on a point from a suspension bridge through the parabolic form of hanging cables between its towers... :-s During the CMSC11 examination last Wednesday, I was far too worried on my other classes that will come that day (SSP3, MST2) that I did much cramming for that examinations. However, at least I felt OK during the exams...and I answered early, feeling confident... :-) During the CMSC56 examination last Thursday (yesterday), ...

Dear friends, I'm here at the counter of the Interactive Learning Center/Learning Resource Center at UP Mindanao. I'm currently working as a Student Volunteer here. I write in the Logbooks of students who come here to use the services of the Centers. It is actually my first time to work here. Yesterday, I went home to celebrate my mother's birthday. She is now 39 years old and she still is happy about her life. Back home, we had a rather large salu-salo with the family. My cousin visited us too to celebrate. It was actually a wonderful experience since it was a surprise to my mother that I came home to celebrate her big day. Well, life is good here. This ends my short post for now. Cheerio! KENNETH

Dear friends, I'm here at the UP Mindanao IT Kiosk , a newly-opened computer center in this University. Here, my Internet Fee, included in the Miscellaneous Fees (for us freshies), is applied here, i.e. free access to computer services for the first 20 hours unlike ILC/LRC ( >:-( ). After that, I have to pay Php 15.00 an hour. Thank God for TOFI and the Administrative Order PERR-07-86 by Prexy (that's the colloquial term for "President") Roman. (but I'm still not happy for the increase of tuition. grrr...). I am now a Student Volunteer at the Interactive Learning Center/Learning Resource Center of UP Mindanao. Now, I now have working loads. However, since it's Volunteer Work, I don't really have a pay for this kind of work. I am still waiting for OSA's announcement for Student Assistantships for this semester that I applied. I hope that I'll be hired. I want to have some revenues, so I posted Advertisements here in this blog. It is courtes...

Dear Friends, It's another week of excitement here in UP Min. Last Monday, our dearest Third Chancellor of the University of the Philippines in Mindanao, Dr. Gilda Carballo Rivero, has been formally installed. Read more in the UP Mindanao Website . Let me quote the introduction of the article. They say teaching at the University of the Philippines requires a bit of insanity . The financial remuneration received by the faculty and staff in UP is below that of the academic working at other top institutions in the country. The question of why some people choose to remain in UP despite the financial challenge is a mystery of heroism. The even bigger question of why some would choose to work in a UP campus located in the mountains of Mindanao is a mystery of mythic proportions. Travel to UP Mindanao is not the usual commute . People have to travel 10-15 kms ., get off at a highway along Mintal and ride another jeepney which will take them to the campus located 2.5 kilometers...