A Glaring Fact: The NORSUnian is the official STUDENT PUBLICATION of the Negros Oriental State University system.

Translation: The students own the publication. The students are the publishers. Not the University. Not the University President. And CERTAINLY NOT THE PRINTING PRESS!

Another fact:
♦The university does not own the publication in any way.
♦We are subjected to the rules and regulations of the university but the publication is independent from the influence of the school administration.
♦The administration cannot dictate or manipulate the student publication into publishing or otherwise hold stories that are critical to the university or its administration.
♦Even the university president has no right to dictate the publication with regards to internal matters in the publication. Such as, and most especially, the printing.

Translation:

The owner of the previous printing press which printed the TN issues starting November can rant all he wants to the university president but WE WILL HOLD FIRM to our decision that we will not make any repeat orders from him.

You want to "tell it to Henry", then go and tell it to Henry.
WE DON'T CARE!
You can even go and tell it to Gloria! Not Henry or Gloria can make us deal with you again.
As I've said, the university president cannot dictate the publication.

We will proceed with the bidding of the paper whether you like or not. Our contract with you is already done. The printing of the paper will pass through legal channels and will undergo legal and proper ways.

We are not satisfied with your printing, therefore, we have the right to go and look for another printer through a bidding (or a shopping). It is our right and you cannot deny it from us. If, in some unfortunate twist of fate, you manage to win again then so be it. But we will not submit without fighting for it. We will push through with the shopping (or bidding whichever is more convenient)!

One thing I want to make it clear to you is that, the student publication exists because of the students and for the students. NOT for the university president and certainly not for you or because of you. We are not your minions.

In one of his speeches, the university president once described the publication (indirectly) as a barking dog. Well, let me tell you something, we don't just bark. Sometimes, we bitetoo. And we bite hard!

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I posted this thought in my Friendster shoutout this morning. The thought just came into my mind as I was trying to decide what to replace my previous shoutout.

"Responsibility must come first before comfort. Ahay. Meaning, obey first before you complain. Aw? Relate?"

Even I could not understand the relationship between the two. I just posted it there without bothering if the two idea actually relates to each other. As I lay in bed this afternoon, I realized that there is.

Everyone of us has responsibilities and sometimes these responsibilities brings us discomfort, unearth our insecurities, etc. Yet we do not have a choice but fulfill our duties. We have to do our duties first before we start complaining because otherwise we would look like fools who keep on complaining but has never actually done anything.

Isn't it annoying when the people who complains a lot are those who haven't done anything at all? Isn't it irritating to hear those who have never shed a single drop of sweat complaining about something, commenting, and acting like they know everything when they haven't contributed anything at all?

And you know what's more irritating? It's when these people starts to brag about the "work" they've done when it is actually nothing to what others have done.

I think you don't need to be a leader to be considerate. You have to think of your responsibility not only to your group or your organization but also to the people around you first before you think of your self. You have to ask yourself if you have done enough already or if there is something more that you can do.

Right?

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Timeline

March 23- Conceptualization
March 2-April 11- Gathering; Screening; Finalization of Handurawan/Magazine Articles, Artworks and Graphics
April 13- Meeting (Evaluation of Articles and Planning)
April 13-25- Editing
April 27-May 9- Layouting
May 11-16- Proofreading; Finalization
May 18-23- Output assessment

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No Summer Vacation for me. I will be definitely be staying here in Dumaguete until May to work for the Literary and Art Folio which is scheduled to be released on the First Semester of the coming School Year.

Not much of a problem with the Folio actually since we have contributions for it but the problem now is the Magazine. The TN Magazine (With no Official Name yet), which is also targeted to be released at the same time as the Handurawan, is the publication's first.

The Magazine has been in planning stage for three years already and is supposedly released in time for our 25th anniversary last 2006 but because we never really got the time to make it, the plans never materialized. Last year, the Editorial Board and Staff decided to push through with the Magazine in addition to our Weekly Newspaper and the annual Literary Folio.

Plans were already made and articles were gathered yet we were not able to release the Magazine during the school year. Why?

Reason Number 1: The magazine is not really part of the Annual Publication budget and we need to ask for an increase for the Magazine to be published.
Reason Number 2: We never had the time because of so many problems that plagued the publication this SY.
Reason Number 3: Very few of our writers passed their contributions for the Magazine and most of the submitted articles were rejected.

I will elaborate on the third reason.
Our writers are used to writing for newspaper and writing for a Magazine requires a different approach. The Staff does not have an inkling as to how to write for a Magazine or what topics to include because we have never done this before. That is why, the Editorial Board decided to look at different Student Publication Magazines for inspiration.

And so we will be working on these two babies for the whole summer and I can't see any light in sight (not for the work but for me). I hope the budget we asked for the working committee will be approved so we could lessen our expenses here.

Well, I need to look for a job also because, though the publication will shoulder our meals, it will not of course shoulder our boarding house payments. Huhuhu...Of course, I also need pocket money and I can't just ask for money anytime I want from my parents. Hello! It's summer and I'm supposed to stay at home and they are supposed to relax from the payments for two months...But then, duty calls and we have to face our responsibilities.

I don't know how this summer will be like but I do hope somebody will have pity on us and send us food here.=)...And also pay for our lodgings...it will greatly help a lot.

I hope we finish the work on time. We're just waiting for Carla Mae to return from her vacation so we could start with the planning.=)

So help us God.

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Incidentally, if you are a student of Negros Oriental State University (past or present) or an alumnus of the University, you may pass your Handurawan contributions (essay, short story, poems, art works, photographs) to editors@thenorsunian.com or log on to THE NORSUnian Interactive and submit your articles in the forum.

You may also visit our office and personally pass your contributions. We are located at the 2nd flr. Balay sa Alumni, Negros ORiental State University, Main Campus I, Dumaguete City.

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Enjoy your summers Guys!

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A week ago the election of the new editorial board was held and I was promoted. Okay.
I did not post it right away because honestly, I am not so confident with that election. Maybe if the staff was given more option they would have chosen somebody else. Besides, I never really want to be on any of the positions available so I did not do anything about it.

So I'm still an editor. Good Luck to me.
I thought I will be relieved of all responsibilities in the publication in the next school year so I was already planning to apply for a part-time job here in Dumaguete. Unfortunately for me, with the publication, I cannot work part time anymore.

I am glad of one thing though, Kuya Junrell is still our EIC. I can't really imagine TN without Kuya Junrell and I don't know if there is anybody in the publication who could lead us the way he does. I could only pray that he will not leave us because as the Associate Editor, I will have to take his place if that happens and I really don't know what to do.

I prayed really hard that Kuya will change his mind and stay with us instead of resigning from the publication. I think it worked though it still remains to be seen because he could still change his mind right? Oh God, please don't let him change his mind.

Anyway, I really don't feel like happy or anything about the result of that election (or at least my being voted as Assoc. Ed). I'm so dedma to it and I don't feel anything about the position at all.

Well, what can i do? I am already here and I guess I just have to accept the responsibility. It will be greater than my previous responsibilities because I will not only be editing both News and Features Articles but I am now responsible administratively in the publication.

What does an Assoc. Ed do? I don't know. I am not sure. Our By-Laws says that the Assoc. Ed acts as the PR Officer as well as the, of course, assistant of the EIC... well, maybe that's it, I will have to act as the PR Officer of the Pub...huh?

Whatever...I will have to accept whatever comes...=(

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I want to begin by saying thank you but I realized that people already know me for being outright with what I think and what I feel that it would be hypocrisy if I would. So, I’ll start by telling you all how disappointed I am with all of you.

In all honesty, to say that I am disappointed is an understatement. I am frustrated not only as an editor but as a member of the student publication who has been with TN my whole college life. I had been through three editors already and I know how different it has been and how life in the publication is.

When I was chosen to replace Kuya Micho as the News Editor of TN, I was both flattered and disappointed. I was flattered because I never expected that my fellow staffers will vote for me and at the same I am disappointed because I will have to lead. Despite my misgivings, I accepted the position, simply because I did not have any choice.

I was glad that we started the school year right. The writers were cooperative and were doing fine that I told myself that maybe everything will be alright and this won’t be a miserable year after-all. August came and the new writers joined us, problems started to rise. At first I thought it was all because of the problem with the printing that everything was affected. However, as the weeks pass and August became September and September became October, then November and so on, I realized that the printing is only a small part of it.

It is frustrating to see senior writers acting like newbies, writing like they haven’t written a single news article their whole life. It is frustrating to see newbies struggling to learn and not learning anything because the people who are supposed to guide them need more guidance themselves.

Writers with so much potential, this is how I would describe all of you. Unfortunately, aside from being good writers you are also irresponsible and undisciplined.

I am frustrated because no matter what I do to make you learn the value of discipline and observing deadlines, no matter how many times I reprimand you, no matter how much effort I exert to make you better individuals and writers, you prefer to remain the same. I am frustrated because instead of helping the seniors develop as writers, they regressed instead. I am frustrated because the writers that I trust most in the publication and from whom I am expecting good, if not better, write-ups became decorations in the office instead. I am frustrated as I see you lounging in the office, laughing your hearts out, watching movies, eating and enjoying your publication lives while neglecting your duties as campus journalists. I am even more frustrated when I realized that a lot of you are Mass Communication students and majority of you are writers in high school.

Many times I have reminded you of your responsibilities as campus journalists and as members of TN. Many times I gave you warnings and strikes and gave you punishments. Many times I asked Kuya Junrell and Paul to remove the internet connection and disallow you to use the internet unless you could pass your articles, but to no avail. You did not learn anything even if you were restricted from using the internet, reprimanded, and even if Amy and Lester were evicted for the same reason that majority of you were placed under probation.

Many times I asked myself what to do to you. Many times I contemplated of just giving up and resigning because I know that I am not effective as a leader. Many times I told myself that maybe the fault is not with you but with me. And yes, many times I had been tempted to choke each one of you to wake you out of your senses.

It has been said that the kind of attitude the subordinates have is a reflection of the kind of leader that they have. If your attitudes are reflections of what I am as a leader, then I say that I am a failure. I don’t know if you ever learned anything but I know that each one of you hates me because I am the cause of all your sufferings in the publication. But honestly, I don’t care if you all of you will hate me as long as you learned something and as long as I see you become better writers and people.

For the ten months that I had been your news editor, I could say without fear of contradiction that you did not develop as writers or as individuals. I guess I am also in the position to say that the seminars you’ve been through are not enough to teach you because I don’t see any improvement in your articles.

As we end this year, I hope that despite all of these you somehow learned something no matter how small it may be. I hope that I could finally see you develop in the coming school year and that you would finally realize that you are here in the publication not only to enjoy the privileges that goes with the job.

My term as a news editor has officially ended with the end of the school year. I am not relieved because I know that another nose bleeding year is waiting for me in the coming school year but somehow, I am happy that I will be leaving the position. I am still hoping that I will see you develop in the coming year. I still have my hopes high.

I had been initially tempted to write a speech full of praises and positive remarks to all of you but I told myself that it is already enough that I tolerated you for ten months. They say that the truth will set you free and I hope this did set you free. I don’t want any of you to go on believing that you deserve to be in TN just because you are good writers. I prefer to tell you the truth that being a good writer is not enough to make you stay in TN. Amy and Lester were good writers, they were even better than some of you, remember that.

I know I will hurt, irritate and embarrass a lot of you with this speech but I since I am used to being back-bitten and criticized, I preferred to push through instead. I am a leader and I am here because of all of you, and I want to give justice to the position you gave me.

To the incoming editors, I am glad that you will finally know how it is to be in our position. Maybe when you have finally experienced what we have to go through you will realize why I had to do what I do to all of you. Nevertheless, I pray you all the best.

To the writers, I know I have been reprimanding you for the whole school year and still reprimanding you for the past few minutes but I assure you that I don’t hate any of you personally. I am only doing my job as a leader and sometimes, leaders have to sacrifice friendship if it’s for the benefit of the organization.

To my fellow editors, we did our best and I don’t know about the rest of you but this is how I feel. I am glad to be working side by side with you and share those countless nosebleeding moments with you.

And to all of you, I am sorry for being a failure but I did my best. I am sorry for causing a lot of sufferings in your lives but I only did it because I want the best for all of you. And lastly I leave you this message, I want to be liked but I don’t mind being hated if that’s the price for telling the truth.

(Note: this is my outgoing speech for the farewell party on March 14.)

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And I don't even want to say Good luck because I prefer to say, God Bless.

The University Graduation will be on March 13 already and the publication Good luck Party will be on March 14-15. Four people will be leaving us and maybe a lot more will no longer be with us in the coming school year.

It will be especially sad for us in the publication because we are very close in here. We exist not only as an organization but as a family. We are together through thick and thin and goodbyes are never a part of our agenda.

But its finally here. The time to say goodbye.
tears will be shed but that won't stop them. Words will be said but that too won't stop them
We will not even try stopping them.
Everybody has to move on and choose their own paths. We are thankful that they have been with us and became a part of our lives but we also know that sooner we will also have to leave just like them.

This will not be a goodbye because I know that we will still see each other. I only pray that they will find the right paths for them and hope that they will be successful in whatever journey they choose to take.

Congrats guys...and God bless!

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I am frustrated. And that's putting it lightly.

To be honest about it, I feel like a loser. Sometimes I think my best was never enough to fulfill my duties in the publication. Ten months of being an editor and nothing to show for it. I am a failure.

When I assumed this position, the senior writers were doing fine. Ten months after, they're the worst bunch of writers I've ever came across with. Irresponsible reporters, half-baked reports, incomplete data, incomplete reports, unfinished articles and of course, invisible articles.

Wow! What a failure. I'm probably the worst editor this publication has ever had.

I am supposed to help them develop but they regressed instead. I am supposed to train them and help them become better people but I think they became worst. What happened to all the seminars they've been through? What happened to all the trainings they underwent?

90% of our writers are presently under probation. Meaning, majority of them are in danger of being kicked out from the publication for not doing their parts as writers. Their behaviors reflects the kind of leaders that they have. And if they are as irresponsible as this then it only shows what kind of failure I had been.

I did my best to encourage them, to make them work. I did everything for the publication but all for nothing.

=(

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