Binibini Ba 'To 2011

Last February 23, 2011 was the day of the awaited Binibini Ba‘To, the annual male cross-dressing pageant held by GeoSoc for the College of Science. The event was included in the week-long celebration of the College of Science week, together with other events like the Big Band Theory (battle of the bands) and the CS Idol, as a result of the partnership done with the College of Science Student Council (CSSC). The theme of this year’s Binibini Ba‘To was “Victor’s Secret: The Clash of the Heavenly Bodies”, in coordination with the theme of the CS week, Big Bang.

The participants for this year were UP Association of Biology Majors (UP ABM), UP Association of Chemistry Majors and Enthusiasts (UP ACME), Agham Youth, UP Chemical Society (UP ChemSoc), UP Department of Science and Technology-Scholars’ Association (UP DOST-SA), UP Geology Majors Society (UP GeMS), UP Molecular Biology and Biotechnology Society (UP MBBS), UP Pre-Medical Honor Society (UP PMHS), UP Pre-Medical Society (UP PMS), and UP Marine Biological Society (UP MBS). Before the pageant, a photoshoot with the contestants was done with the UP Optics in the NIGS AVR in preparation for the exhibit to be released a few weeks before the event itself. They had a shot with their casual outfit as a male, and a bikini shot as a female.

The exhibit, which served as a teaser for the event, contained information about the contestants, and their male and female photos. The exhibit was a silhouette of a female with wings made from cardboard painted black and with highlights of silver on the wings. It started roaming around the CS buildings a week before the event until the event itself.

A few hours before the start of the event, everyone was busy preparing – the backdrop, the venue, the projector, the lights, the stage, the props. But when everything started, everything went smoothly. The hosts of the event were Emmanuelle Manoguid and Roxy Saguido, two very funny and energetic students from the College of Mass Communication of UP Diliman. The three judges who participated in the event were Mr. Raymond Rodolfo from the National Institute of Geological Sciences, Mr. Jason Petras from the Fil. Department and Ms. Pat Bringas from UP Babaylan.

            The first part of the program was the opening dance number led by some members of GeoSoc, which eventually led to the entrance of the contestants. Then came the wings part, in which the contestants showcased their wings made up of recycled materials, all while wearing their bikini. And after each walk on the stage, they all promoted a certain product from Nivea in their own way. This served as the act-it-out portion of the program. This was followed by the talent portion, and we must say that the contestants this year put a lot of effort for their talents, for they all presented really great in their performances. Last, but definitely not the least, was the Long Gown and Q&A portion. The contestants wore their beautiful dresses and were asked to pick a paper containing the name of a judge that will give their question.

Before the announcing of the winners, a quick intermission number was done by UP SIKAT with the song Telephone by Lady Gaga. After this, the contestants came back on stage wearing their wings for the announcing of winners. For the minor awards: the Binibining Aries award (we need not explain this in full detail) was awarded to UP MBS; the Gon-duh Wings award (contestant with the most beautiful wings) to UP MBBS; MaCASHiopeia award (contestant who garnered the most number of votes by the piso-per-vote system thru the use of vote boxes) to UP Pre-Medical Honor Society; Ms Supernova award (contestant with the best talent based on the scores given by the judges) to UP GeMS; and Ms. Planet of the Apes award (most manly-looking contestant) to UP ACME. And for the major awards, third place as Bb. Pandaigdig was UP GeMS, with a score of 87.22%. Second place as Bb. Bulalakaw was UP MBBS with 88.89%. And for the first place as Bb. Pangkalawakan and this year’s winner of Binibini Ba‘To 2011 was UP PMHS with 93.10%. The contestants were awarded with prizes from Folded and Hung, Jobs DB, Marks & Spencer, NIGS Canteen.

After months of preparation and everyone’s time and effort, the Binibini Ba‘To was a huge success. This was also the most attended Binibini Ba‘To (according to the CSSC) event. Everyone had a good time, and was thankful that everything went out great. We assure you that next year would be an equally or more successful event. We hope to see you next February for Binibini Ba’To 2012!#

- Marga Mahor

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Make the Luv-A Flow 2011

               Last February, the UP Geological Society brought about the “MAKE THE LUV-A FLOW” in the National Institute of Geological Sciences. The activity aims to promote camaraderie, fun and entertainment during the most anticipated love month. Included in the list of activities were the wedding booth, dedication wall, chocolate selling, and Mr. and Ms. Luv-a Flow. Also, the first ever PROM NIGHT was held last February 11, which serves as the culmination night for the Make the Luv-a flow week.

            Among the activities in the Make the Luv-a Flow week, the Weeding booth was indeed the most famous and exciting, as real-life or asaran-generated couples exchange their wedding vows with complete wedding stuff for an awesome wedding. Some weddings appeared to be the Wedding of the century (Leong-Mancenido and Bornilla-Calanno) as their whole class attended the wedding. Even the Deputy Director for Student and Academic Affairs, Dr. Tarriela, witnessed how emotional these couples were as they exchanges vows even though everything were just made–up weddings.

            Seems like everyone have some unspoken sweet words towards a special someone or maybe it was just all about having a sweet tooth. No wonder, the dedication wall and the chocolate selling were a huge sensation during the week. As an added twist, the chocolates have small curled paper inside which resembles that of a fortune cookie. Some of the more famous fortune is “mabubuntis ka mamaya… magtimpi!”

            Another exciting activity during the week was the search for Mr. and Ms. Luv-a Flow. The pairs were chosen based on their popularity as couples and their overall sweetness even if they are not really in a romantic relationship with each other. There were six couples which competed for the title namely: PaJak (Patricia Quimora and Jake del Prado), JanRari (Janelle Marasigan and Merari Rosaroso), MacKira (Macky Bernardo and Kira Gauce), MarEsca (Mark La Rosa and Cesca Llanes), DominIce (Dominic Guballa and Ice Ortiz) and AngelinaJolly (Angel Yu and Jolly Sulapas). Voting was done during the entire Luv-a week and the couple who garnered the highest votes was proclaimed Mr. and Ms. Luv-a Flow 2011 during the Prom Night.

            Speaking of the Prom Night, the perfect way to end the week with a big explosion of kilig and love was to have a night of acoustic music, slow dancing, games and of course, sumptuous hearty food. GeoSoc and Heart Angela’s Food shop, also known as NIGS canteen, headed the first ever Prom Night with masquerade as the theme. Also, this special night was made in collaboration with Cravings food group and all the NIGS organizations namely: Cwm Zenana, UP Rockhounds, UP GeMS and IOGF. The idea was to organize a simple yet cozy party to celebrate the love month as an institute. But the attendees were not limited to NIGS people; in fact, many other students from the College of Engineering and the other College of Science Institutes like MBB participated in the magical night. The acoustic romantic songs were performed by various talented NIGS students which were part of the partner organizations. Also, the UP Music Circle performed and charmed the crowd with their golden voice. Another highlight of the night is the announcement and coronation of Mr. and Ms. Luv-a Flow 2011. The votes were tallied and the love team known as AngelinaJolly got in the 2^nd place which entitled them for a romantic street food date within UP. The grand prize of having a romantic dinner date for two at Cravings restaurant in Katipunan was given to Mr. and Ms. Luv-a Flow 2011 - Pat Quimora and Jake del Prado also known as PaJak but later they said they preferred to be called as JakPat. JakPat had their first dance to the tune of Corr’s Runaway. The night ended with fast party dancing and lots of fun pictorials in the photo booth.

            Overall, the entire Make the Luv-a Flow week was undeniably a success. Since its first occurrence in NIGS, it has improved in terms of production and the incorporated activities. Surely, Make the Luv-a Flow 2012 will be much awaited and UP Geological Society will have to bring better and bigger explosion of fun and love during February. #

- Claris Canta

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GeoQuiz 2010

The UP Geological Society (UP GeoSoc) held its annual quiz show entitled “GeoQuiz 2010: Diversifying our Knowledge of the Third Planet” last October 2, 2010, Saturday, jointly at the UP NISMED Auditorium and the National Institute of Geological Sciences (NIGS) Audio-Visual Room. The GeoQuiz is an earth science quiz show in which high school students engage in friendly competition about basic earth science, geology, and current events related to geology. This event is sponsored by Philex Mining Corporation, represented by Vice President for Exploration Ms. Redempta P. Baluda. In celebration of UP GeoSoc’s 53rd anniversary, this year’s quiz show’s theme is mainly on what GeoSoc termed Geodiversity, which aims to introduce the various branches and disciplines of Geology and the Earth Sciences to the secondary level, and to show how the geologist contributes for national development. The program was hosted by Conchitina Cleofe Yu and Jigo Mismanos.

This year’s GeoQuiz, now inviting private schools alongside public and science high schools, was contested by seven teams, with four students per school. The participants are the Holy Spirit School, Pasig City Science High School, Sta. Lucia High School, School of the Holy Spirit of Quezon City, St. Paul College Pasig, Rizal National Science High School, and University of Santo Tomas – Education High School. The first part of the quiz show was a one-hour individual written examination.  Then the participants went on to the team competition wherein they underwent three rounds of competition, with ten questions each round.  The judges of this year’s GeoQuiz were Dr. Ma. Luisa G. Tejada, NIGS Associate Professor, Ms. Catherine C. Abon, NIGS Instructor, and Ms. Redempta P. Baluda, VP for Exploration of Philex Mining. After a catered lunch prepared by Heart Angela’s Food Shop- NIGS Canteen, the students participated in a High School Workshop held in various rooms in NIGS.

The awarding at the NIGS Seminar Room was spearheaded by Adriann A. Vasquez, then UP GeoSoc Academics Committee Head and GeoQuiz 2010 Event Coordinator, and John Dale B. Dianala. All seven schools received certificates of participation, while trophies and cash prizes were given to the top three schools. Rizal National Science High School, Overall Champion, triumphed over other schools with a cumulative score of 232.75 points, while Sta. Lucia School and University of Santo Tomas - Education High School garnered Second and Third Place with 231.25 points and 205.25 points, respectively.  The top three schools received P10,000, P7,000, and P5,000 in cash prizes, respectively.

            As a continuation of the objectives of the GeoQuiz, UP GeoSoc aims to invite more schools and allow multiple teams per school for its next quiz shows. 

- Adriann Vasquez

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HighSchool Workshop 2010

The Externals Committee of UP Geological Society (Geosoc) launched the High School Workshop (Workshop) as part of Geosoc’s advocacy in educating students about geology. Geosoc held the Workshop at the National Institute of Geological Sciences during the afternoon of 2 October 2010, right after the annually-held Geoquiz; the participants consisted of the Geoquiz contestants, accompanied by their teachers and younger schoolmates.  The National Institute of Geological Sciences, Nannoworks Laboratory, and Geosciences Foundation Incorporated provided the food and the necessary materials.

The Workshop had one simple objective: introduce the principles and practices of geology through hands-on approach. The Workshop presented principles and practices in geology through interactive stations, each manned by instructors (sophomore to senior BS Geology students). The Workshop catered to all levels and backgrounds of high school students, unlike the Geoquiz which only catered to the students already knowledgeable in geology. Even the less-inclined-to-geology participants easily digested the concepts being taught in the Workshop.

The stations of the Workshop hosted various specific topics: mineral hardness; mineral color and streak; field mapping; rock cycle; field mapping; rock types; carbonate rocks; fossils; and optical mineralogy (thin sections and polished sections). The instructors showcased an interesting hands-on exercise for each of their stations. For example, the exercise in optical mineralogy allowed the participants to see the kaleidoscopic view of thin sections of rocks under the microscope. Active discussions followed the hands-on exercises. For example, after showing off a gold specimen under the microscope, an instructor discussed the interesting facts about the economics of mining in the Philippines.

The sponsors of the Workshop greatly contributed to the success of the Workshop: the National Institute of Geological Sciences provided the rooms, petrographic microscopes, and rock samples; the Nannoworks Laboratory provided fossils and specialized microscopes; the Geosciences Foundation Incorporated provided funds for the Workshop stations’ materials and the food for the participants.

The participants and their teachers, as well as the organizers and instructors, gave positive feedbacks regarding the Workshop. The participants enjoyed the activities in the stations, especially the stations in optical mineralogy. Some participants even expressed their newfound interest in geology; some considered including the BS Geology program among their choices in college. The teachers also participated in the stations, most of them asking a lot of questions out of curiosity. One teacher from Rizal National Science High School commented the Workshop presented a very fresh concept in teaching geology to high school students; the teacher also requested the Workshop to be held in her school. The Workshop actually provided a good start for the future educators of geology. The instructors, consisting of the sophomore to senior members of Geosoc, found the Workshop a rather exhausting yet very rewarding experience. After the Workshop, some of the members started entertaining the idea of teaching geology after finishing their BS degree. Nikko Rivera, one of the brains behind the concept of the Workshop, expressed his interest in continuously supporting the Workshop. He vowed that once he gets to work, he would donate rare and interesting rocks from the various parts of the world for the Workshop. #

- Rico dela Pena

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