mababang langit

so i've been trawling the web for like-minded people who think it was a mistake for the ateneo de manila to cancel final exams and not have anything useful in its stead. but all i could find was enthusiastic facebook chest-thumping from people who were "so proud to be an atenean!" and this one blog post comment : err… di ko alam kung maiinggit ako o ano. i'm not sure whether it's a testament to my poor googling skills, or proof that people just can't resist anything with an ateneo seal and a "person for others" label on it.

for those needing background, here's the optimistic, fuzzy-hearted letter from ateneo's philosophy department chair that's been making the facebook rounds lately, to unanimous and even fuzzier-hearted acclaim from ateneo alumni everywhere. and here's the original memo from VP cuyegkeng cancelling final exams this semester and encouraging the student body to do volunteer work instead. now let me clearly state my contention: instead of calling off the exams altogether, why not offer volunteer work in place of them? hi kids, your "biology finals" will be held at the covered courts, where you will be packing relief goods for a minimum of three hours, or longer if you so choose. it won't be graded but your professor will be there, checking attendance. you won't have to study and you get to embrace your "infinite responsibility for the other." isn't that nice? compared to this (or any other practicable solution), simply calling off exams an...

i've heard my share of paypal horror stories but none have boiled my blood like this one about paypal freezing the paypal accounts of a couple of groups processing donations for ondoy victims . and the really slimy thing is, paypal kept changing the reason for the suspension. first it was "requests for information", then after all the necessary documents were provided, they claimed to not process donations at all, in any country ( NOT TRUE ). they only gave in and restored the accounts after their Global Communications Chief was subtly threatened with a PR shitstorm. i say give 'em the shitstorm anyways!