A 1000 word report on the shoes UP students wear and what they SHOULD wear

Shoes and you

A Student Report on the State of Shoe Technology

by Group 8: Fr∞ts and Vegetables | STS THY

Abstract

Science and technology has allowed us to progress in a multitude of ways, and our footwear is not an exception. However, development in shoe technology has been so rapid that choosing footwear has become a task that requires more than a simple glance. Footwear manufacturers resort to unusual and arcane terminologies and claims of better performance, vogue fashion, and unparalleled comfort and convenience, all to make their product stand out.

This paper will tackle one aspect of footwear technology -- performance enhancement. It will also attempt to tackle the correlation between claims of shoe manufacturers versus those who actually use them. Introduction A brief history of footwear

The first footwear were made by the ancient civilizations that was dated to be around 10,000 years ago. They used animals skin or fur to wrap around their feet for warmth and protection. They invented the sandals which at the time was leather stuffed with straw and it became the most popular footwear in the early civilization.

The modern sport shoes (with the present standard of modern humans) probably started with the “Plimsoll”, a lightweight rubber-soled shoes that would one day be known as the sneakers. It can be seen as early as in the early 19th century. The plimsoll used a manufacturing technique called  vulcanisation to meld rubber and cloth together using heat. These shoes became increasingly popular quickly because it provided comfort and style, were lightweight and allowed the user to move around silently unlike the old shoes they had back then.

{sources:

www.footwearhistory.com
http://www.popularmechanics.com/outdoors/sports/technology/the-evolution-of-athletic-shoe-tech#slide-1}

Shoe Technology: What exists now Footwear technology Today

Three things: Lightweight, Ergonomic, Modern.

Based on the survey that we have conducted, at outstanding 80% of respondents said that the shoe brand they recommend most is Nike. Nike is widely known for its sports-casual themed shoes due to comfort, durability, and style, also as agreed upon by our respondents. Since Nike shoes are also known for their innovative shoe technology, let us take a look at three of their top shoe innovations.

Perhaps the most famous shoe innovation that Nike has introduced is Nike Air. This “air cushioning technology” was introduced by Nike way back in 1979 and is still used today. This technology features small pouches or bubbles of air inside the shoe to add comfort. In every step, the shoe is somehow compressed and it recovers on the following stride.

The next one is the up-and-coming Nike Flywire which is featured in almost all the latest Nike sports shoes. These Flywire are made of special braided polyester similar to what is used in the making of Kevlar. These filaments act like support as if cables on a bridge and they are strategically placed to help minimize the use of fabric, thus lightening the product.

Lastly, one of Nike’s latest innovations is Nike Lunarlon. The name is inspired by the concept of astronauts walking on the moon, as if walking on marshmallows. According to Nike, this new cushioning foam is 30% lighter than their usual foam, thus making the shoes lighter, softer and more comfortable. Ultimately, when wearing shoes with Lunarlon, the impact of the landing is decreased significantly.

There are certainly more shoe improvements and innovations from other brands and style of shoes and this is a testament to the rising popularity and significance of footwear science and technology in our society.

{sources:
www.footwearhistory.com
http://www.popularmechanics.com/outdoors/sports/technology/the-evolution-of-athletic-shoe-tech#slide-1}

Case Study: What the UP Diliman students choose

Analytics here.

Nature of the Study

We conducted a small, online survey on what footwear UP students use and prefer. We garnered 68 respondents over the course of less than a week.

Our respondents were asked so to choose which footwear they usually wore in school, and were requested to pick one which they wore the most. We then asked them the reasons why they chose that footwear over others.

Demographic

The majority of our respondents were freshmen (49%), and were female (53%). 57% hailed from the College of Engineering.

However, there are alternatives for people who don’t like shoes. The survey showed that around 30% of UP students actually wear slippers and sandals in school, citing comfort as the main reason why they prefer them. Hot days and long walks almost every day(although sometimes are the slippery roads during rainy season) can cause a lot of discomfort and sometimes pain for our feet, and wearing comfortable open footwear lessens that nuisance.

Results

The ideal shoe (for UP students, mostly from the College of Engineering and College of Music) is…comfortable (fit to your foot), durable, functional (in UP’s case, for walking from building to building and enduring the scorching heat from the sun). Also, 43% of the people who answered the survey believes that the brand matters, and it takes time before buying the perfect shoes. Maybe the fact that the reputation of the brand makes it credible, and trustworthy to be bought. Apparently, the brand that is most favorable by UP students that they think delivered this function is Nike that garnered 38% of the votes in the survey, followed by Adidas (22%) and other brands.

Conclusion: Recommendation

Shoes all over the world, like jobs, have been specialized for various specific tasks. The kind of shoes one wears depends on the kind of job or activity that he does, the comfort he wants to feel or sometimes just for the outfits they want to wear. In the survey on what kind of shoes UP students wear, for example, we can see that most students prefer wearing either rubber shoes or slippers, probably because it takes a lot of walking when going from one building to another.

Shoe Technology: is it worth investing in?

Our walking bipedal nature has been one of the evolutionary characteristics of our species and with us, the shoe technology has also evolved in its own way. From a bunch of leaves to haystacks to what we now have… a wide variety of comfortable and user-friendly shoes that will adjust to each and every type of people out there. So definitely! Why shouldn’t our shoes evolve with us?

References:

{sources:
www.footwearhistory.com
http://www.popularmechanics.com/outdoors/sports/technology/the-evolution-of-athletic-shoe-tech#slide-1}

{sources:

http://www.popularmechanics.com/outdoors/sports/technology/the-evolution-of-athletic-shoe-tech
http://www.footlocker.com/striperpedia/article/5000742/cushioning}

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AmZKJv7pQOxmdEkxNnZLdk83VTRVV0RtRUxsb2JMckE#gid=0 FORM -> summary of responses

Special Project

By; Fidel Delos Reyes
      2009-31842

An interview of Dr. Ernesto P. Sonido about Geophysics.

El Psy Congroo: Time Travel in a Japanese Animated Series

Erwin Dennis Umali

2010 - 23119

Initial disclosure: I’ve always been fascinated by the concept of time travel. In fact, back in high school, I’ve watched (and was mesmerized) by the Naked Science documentary shown in class already, leading me to research more into the subject than I initially expected. Especially appealing to me was the concept of a multiverse -- a span of infinite timelines branching on every possible combination of circumstances. This effectively destroyed all notion of time paradoxes; since every possible outcome was already plotted out, ‘travelling in time’ essentially meant going to and from different timelines.

What’s especially interesting to me is that this concept, combined with time travelling, black holes, and a dash of fantasy, was used in depicting a compelling story in contemporary Japanese media. 

Warning: while I tried my best, this paper will still contain some spoilers regarding Steins;Gate. It won’t be too revealing, but you have been warned.

99% Science, 1% Fantasy

Originally slated as a visual novel on Windows PCs, the Steins;Gate anime revolves around a ragtag team of Tokyo college students who somehow create a device that can send messages to the past. This opens up a thrilling, melodramatic story that, personally, is well worth the time. However, the intriguing thing about Steins;Gate is how it delved deep into the intricacies of time travel, both in popular culture, and in its scientific aspects.

Different theories

The initial clincher for Steins;Gate was how it actually tackled several time travel theories -- and debunked each of them. It discussed string theory, wormholes, black holes, and how each could be potentially used to traverse the fabric of spacetime; but each of those needed a humanly impossible component, so, initially, one would think that, indeed, time travel would be impossible, even in that fictional universe.

John Titor

However, someone makes a virtual appearance in an online forum, claiming to be from a dystopian future. He introduces himself as John Titor, and explains various aspects of time travel in his ‘time machine’, that were considered to be impossible.

It was interesting to note that John Titor actually ‘existed’ in our real world, with the same claims to fame on time travel. While his claims were mostly debunked, his ‘appearance’ became a cultural phenomenon, and many time travel buffs still attest to his authenticity. It was nice to see this referenced and tackled in the show, bridging the story not just scientifically, but culturally as well.

However, in the show, the John Titor the protagonist knew about did not match any records in his world. Somehow, the history the protagonist knew was different from everyone else’s. This was explained through an interesting concept which the show called world lines.

World Lines and Attractor Fields

This was probably one of the most interesting aspects of the show for me. Steins;Gate revolves around the existence of an infinite multiverse. Each of these universes has a path, or a world line, which it follows a specific, minute set of events. Slight variations of events exist in slightly different world lines. Similar world lines are bundled into what was called an Attractor Field. Major events set attractor fields apart from each other -- in one attractor field, for instance, World War II might not have occurred, so they diverge greatly in terms of events.

Steins;Gate uses these concepts to its full extent, and destroys the notion of paradoxes along the way, enabling viewers to further suspend their belief (and awe at the concepts as well, I suppose). 

So then, who makes time travelling possible? Well, interestingly, Steins;Gate features a pretty well known organization...

CERN/SERN

… the creators of the Large Hadron Collider, CERN -- or, rather, SERN, because copyrights might pose a problem to the producers. In the show, SERN is secretly developing a method to travel through time for the purposes of ruling the entire populace. Interestingly, SERN plans to do it through the LHC, or the Large Hadron Collider.

But what could an unbelievably large particle accelerator do? Well...

Kerr black holes

It can create mini-black holes. At least in theory, particle accelerators can generate what is called a Kerr black hole, a special gravitational anomaly that, when traversed a specific way, can make you come out before you came in -- essentially transporting you to the past.

This is an actual, legitimate, scientifically-backed time travel theory, and what’s interesting is that the show finds a way to use this to the fullest. But, of course, matter wouldn’t survive in a black hole, much less escape from one, so how does time travelling actually happen? Well...

The miracle exception

The “1% fantasy” in the show, then, is how the time traveling happens. To deal with the problem of survivability in black holes, the show resorts to sending data through them instead. 

So, somehow, the protagonist can make a call with his cellphone, and all his memories (terabytes of it, mind you) are extracted, get perfectly compressed into mere kilobytes, is sent through an artificial Kerr black hole created by a humongous CRT (which is technically a mini-particle accelerator), and ends up some place in the past, routed back through a phone call, which, when answered, ‘overwrites’ the receiver’s memories. By all means, this sounds like utter science fiction, because it is.

Also, the protagonist has the ability to discern which world line he’s in, which, by our current understanding, should be an impossibility, since there isn’t a ‘vantage point’ you can stand on to view all the world lines, much less determine which is which.

However, apart from this, everything in the show revolves around concepts and theories we already know about time travelling. What’s amazing is that Steins;Gate manages to create a compelling story on known science, as well as educating the viewer a lot on our collective knowledge on time travelling.

All in all, Steins;Gate excited my inner time traveller, and educated me further into the intricacies of going around the fabric of spacetime. It did an excellent job raising questions regarding the ethics of time travel and humanity’s motivations behind it; will time travelling be just another avenue for power and dominance? 

It also becomes a philosophical quandary -- if we’re able to prove that there’s an infinite number of universes out there, each depicting every possible outcome, does what we do even matter? What does that make of the human struggle if you know that, possibly, in another world line, in another attractor field, the rest of humanity is content and happy?

Needless to say, I’d recommend Steins;Gate to any sci-fi fan in a heartbeat.

Asimov's Nightfall: Darkness Arousing

by Dennis Betito Jr.
2013-14724

There is a flow in our everyday lives. We know that everyday for as long as our generation lives, the sun will rise from the east and set in the west. But what if it wasn't like that?

This is the world that Isaac Asimov imagines. He creates Lagash, a planet surrounded by six nearby stars. As a result, the whole planet is perpetually bathed by sunlight, and the citizens of Lagash have never seen the stars, until now.

The radioplay opens with scientists pondering the possibilities that could arise from darkness engulfing about half of the planet by the aligning of the stars and the planets. They are afraid of the darkness: the unknown.

The plot is very interesting, and I would like to see it portrayed on stage or in film. The fear of the unknown is instinctive in humans, or at least to me. I'm very impressed with the imagination Asimov expresses. I'm a frustrated fiction writer, and the though process behind creating science fiction has always impressed me.

All The Time in the World

by Dennis Betito Jr.
2013-14724

"All the Time in the World" really hit home with me. I am a big reader. I'm reading on the jeep, on the plane, on the MRT, while I'm in class, while I'm home alone, basically almost all the time. The fact that the main character missed the end of the world while searching for a silent spot to read was really awesome, and I can identify with that struggle. Coming back to the surface and seeing his city empty must have been confusing, but he kept on with this desire to read, even without the presence other people. I don't know how I would've reacted if the world ended as we know it and I was hiding underground looking for a place to read, but I know I wouldn't have been as calm as him.

I personally know for a fact that words and books can be one's company. Loneliness is doused by the story conjured by ink on paper. It allows us distance from the real world, and gives us the perspective of a person, or a being, to whom life was given by the author. Reading about someone is similar to speaking to them, and  the unfortunate happenstance that his glasses broke must have been heart-wrenching, especially since he doesn't have any people for company, and has lost his ability to read his books.

The Bride of Frankenstein

by Dennis Betito Jr.
2013-14724

I've heard various versions of the famous Frankenstein story. As a kid, I always thought the monster was Frankenstein himself, but I found out later that he was actually the scientist that created the monster. I've read about it in comics and books, but I've never actually seen a film or a play about Frankenstein's monster. Until I saw the Bride of Frankenstein.

The Bride of Frankenstein, directed by James Whale, begins at a crowd cheering at the monster's apparent death. After some time, somebody wanted to see for himself the monster's bones, but is strangled by the actually-alive monster. The monster also attacks and kills his wife, while another one runs away in terror.

The monster roams around, eventually hearing the sound of a violin playing. He locates the source of a sound: a blind priest inside a cottage.

Catching Fire

by Dennis Betito Jr.

2013-14724

The Hunger Games was a tremendous movie, garnering awards and nominations from different groups. The second installment seeked to one-up the first movie by adding an intricate plot centered around political upheavals demanded by the masses.

Catching Fire had a high standard to reach, set by its predecessor, and it did not disappoint. The political turmoil involving the poorer of the twelve remaining districts and the elitist Capitol was the center of this film. The movie featured Panem's 75th Hunger Games, or the 3rd Quarter Quell. It is a Hunger Games with a different arena and more competitors. The rebellion against the Capitol leader President Snow actually used the Quarter Quell to spark the revolution, centered around the triumph and survival of their beacon of hope, the protagonist Katniss Everdeen, portrayed by Jennifer Lawrence.

The movie had amazing graphics. The arena set-up was beautiful, with a weather-changer, artificial beaches and forests, as well as ships and stadiums that look like they are far from being constructed in the real world. It is truly amazing how much more imaginative directors and designers have come from cult science fiction films such as the Matrix.

Catching Fire did not disappoint in terms of acting, editing, and writing. It's safe to say I will be looking forward to the third installment, Mockingjay.

Blade Runner: The future of the past

by Dennis Betito Jr.
2013-14724

I am, and have always been, a film enthusiast.

Ever since I was a kid, I've been watching movies. I grew up watching films like Toy Story, Back to the Future, and Star Wars. These movies made me yearn to be a jedi or a time traveler, and I wished I had moving toys and lightsabers. Later on, I will be into books and movies like Harry Potter and Chronicles of Narnia, and these have fueled my imagination and hopes for the future.

Blade Runner is a film that foretold the future. Set in Los Angeles on November 2019, the movie revolves around police officer, and 'Blade Runner', Rick Deckard, portrayed by Harrison Ford. His job is to hunt down 'replicants', bioengineered beings, and to 'retire' -read kill- them. However, he falls in love with one of the replicants, and he is stuck in quite a predicament.

The movie is extremely imaginative and innovative for 1982. I was impressed with the technology they created in the film. The movie wasn't critically acclaimed, but it managed to gain a mass following and I feel like it was one of the first movies to feature acceptance of bio-engineered beings or robots. Now that artificial intelligence and such are more accepted, I don't think Deckard would be persecuted if he lived in this era.

Very few movies of this generation have the same vision as the writers and directors of Blade Runner, and same as this one, not all of them are recognized by the public.

Blade Runner

Blade Runner is a, according to Wikipedia, 1982 American dystopian science thriller film directed by Ridley Scott. For a 1982 film, I can say that the film was very creative, fresh, unique and exciting for of course the people during the 90’s. I liked the concept very much. And even if the replicants were supposed to be the enemy, I found myself liking them a lot. They were kick-ass and fantastic, I could almost wish I was one. The way they were designed to be extremely smart and super strong made them even more interesting. Let’s not forget about the Blade Runners who were made to retire or kill rebel replicants who want to stay on Earth. Though humans, I am quite amused how the blade runners still manage to complete their task and retire the super strong robot replicants.

What I don’t like about the movie was the pacing. In my opinion, the pacing wasn’t steady, some parts were pretty fast paced and some just took too long. If only it were arranged in such a way that the viewers would understand end enjoy the pacing but of course no one can do anything about that anymore. Nonetheless, it was a pretty enjoyable 2 hours. I would recommend it to fans of futuristic films.

Krystine Pearl Robles 2013-70142

The Rhetoric of Cancer

by Dennis Betito Jr.
2013-14724

Cancer, medically known as malignant neoplasia, is one of the few diseases I really fear. Part because my family's history on both sides (My mother accrued thyroid cancer when I was about 4 years old.), part because of my sheer awe for the extremely unique way it can destroy a person's body. Cells growing and dividing uncontrollably felt like an ironic - if not poetic, way to die.

Of course, my interest in cancer pushes me to learn more about its diagnosis procedures and medications. Rhetoric of Cancer tackled this really diverse topic and gave it a simple voice. It tackles the apathy people display towards the cancer in themselves. Technically, cancer is a part of them, and we know about how everybody wants everyone to learn to accept themselves. People accepted the cancer, and wondered why they ever fought it in the first place.

On a similar note, I would like to quote John Green's The Fault in Our Stars, a heart warming/wrenching book about teenage cancer patients: "What am I at war with? My cancer. And what is my cancer? My cancer is me. The tumors are made of me. They're made of me as surely as my brain and my heart is made of me. It is a civil war with a predetermined winner." Cancer is almost always terminal. When it's "cured", the patient has to undergo medication for months, and sometimes, even years. Maybe succumbing to it, accepting it, and just continuing to live is the best option.

Of course, I may never have to make a choice between living with cancer and living on medications for the rest of my life. I hope I will never have to.

Rhetoric of Cancer

Health is one of the most difficult topic to talk about, especially when you're talking to someone who is not just sick, but is terminally ill. One best example of this is conversing with a person who is suffering from cancer.

Science and Music

One of the lessons which we have studied for STS revolved around the concept of music and of science. It is not the standard combination which one is familiar with in popular culture; considering that we live in an era where music is heavily influenced by drugs, love, or sex. Music and science mixed together is bizarre. However, in light of the modern era, it has been observed that it is not altogether strange to consider science to have such an effect on music.  

For example, the theme song in the famous sitcom The Big Bang Theory which narrates the scientific origin of the universe, of matter,  and of human nature. Unexpectedly, the theme song of TBBT which can be regarded as a crash-course into Darwin’s theory of evolution* is actually quite catchy and popular. Personally, I have been an avid fan of TBBT since it was possible for me to download episodes of it through the net and TBBT’s theme song with its upbeat tempo and catchy lyrics was stuck in my mind for days.

 In addition, a famous Youtube video series, the Epic Rap Battles of History, is a clear-cut example of music which is heavily-laden with science and technology. In example, rap battles between Einstein and Stephen Hawking, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison. What are present in these examples are the concept of music, as that which is under the category of Art, and the concept of science, as a system of knowledge separate from Art, being thrown together and thereby producing a strangely unique combination. Surprisingly, this combination is easily accepted in society and immediately became popular and widely-known. Who would have thought that science -which used to be boring and lacklustre can be as interesting as popular music? Not even I could’ve imagined it -until science and technology proved itself otherwise.

*Note: TBBT’s theme song represents only a linear representation of the history of the universe. There are other representations of the origin of the universe.

Xavier Noel Briones

2013-41022

One Flew Over Imelda's Nest

Dennis Betito Jr.
2013-14724

Imelda Marcos is a well-known figure until this day. She represents Ilocos Norte in Congress these days, but there is more than meets the eye to her.

She rose to stardom when she joined the beauty pageant "Miss Manila". Then known as Imelda Romualdez, she placed second, but was still entitled "Muse of Manila" after contesting the results. Before being married to Ferdinand Marcos, she actually dated Ninoy Aquino, the would-be rival of Marcos.

Imelda's ego would grow with the power that his husband would accrue. Some even call the Marcos dictatorship a two-headed one, with Imelda wielding as much power as the President. During the Martial Law era, she would hold positions in government and travel the world, consolidating power and acquiring funds from the Philippine treasury. She would also serve as the President's representative to nourish ties with different international political figures, such as Gaddafi, Hussein, Castro, and Nixon.

There was also the debacle of the construction of the CCP, when an accident during construction occurred and it was reported that some workers died, but the First Lady still told the workers to continue the construction to reach the due date. There are many more scandals the Imelda is in the middle of.

Now that she's a representative of Ilocos Norte, her ego has appeared to bloat even more. She believes she is a philosopher, a responsible citizen, and, worst of all, innocent of the atrocious crimes they committed during the martial law era. Let's hope nobody like her gets elected in the future. What a waste of a seat in Congress.

A Different Outlook on Cancer

Jonathan Idolor

2013-14792

             When I listened to this audio-interview, The Rhetoric of Cancer, I couldn’t help but be at awe at such a different perspective of someone who was diagnosed with cancer. His relation to the treatment of cancer to war on one’s own body and cells really made me think. We say so many times how war is such a poisonous mindset, and yet when thinking of sickness and disease we always aim to kill, destroy, eliminate that which is changing us. It goes without saying that some degenerative diseases really is no one’s dream to be diagnosed with but thinking about cancer and it’s nature, it really makes you think about what or who you’re really fighting against. These are your own cells, to my understanding everyone is born with them; it is only when you have too many cancer cells that they begin to metastasize and take over.

           

            Although a mindset may not remove cancer from someone, it can really change how people act towards it. Instead of scaring people who have cancer we can help them continue to have a healthy and loving lifestyle. None of us has an unlimited time here on earth, an invisible clock ticks for all of us. In the end we all just want to live happy and make the most of our lives. There is no real battle against cancer, just a battle everyone faces everyday to live in the here and now, to accept it, and just be happy. Just because the clock has revealed itself it doesn’t mean you have to stop being happy and living your life to the fullest.

            The interviewee, Andre Graystone says:  “Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to have cancer, but I warn you that when I die, if any one says that I have lost my battle against cancer, I will personally come back and haunt them.”

"Imeldific"

Jonathan Idolor

2013-14792

My first view on Imelda Marcos has been based on the view of my parents who witnessed martial law. I imagined her as the right hand to Ferdinand Marcos’ regime. The lady with the 3000 pairs of shoes amidst the people in poverty who don’t even have a change of clothes. Although Marcos was smart and was able to implement laws that were beneficial to our development, like others I cannot help but be angry at all the corruption and injustice done under Marcos.

The contents from the movie, at first, showed me Imelda's upbringing which explains her attitude. She was many times the star and she clearly loved the attention. She sees herself as the center of many things. In her mind she may have thought she was humble and that she was serving the people but it was clear how blinded she was by her self-absorbed nature. It does not excuse her ignorance or neglect to the truth regarding the state of the country under hers and Marcos' regime. Although she sees positive things in the past situations of the Philippines, she only focuses on the positive and turns her back on ugliness even though that is what needs to be addressed. A selective generosity that is composed of mainly her ego-centricity. "When I am living glamorously the people are happy." I do not know where this makes sense…

She spends and spends, one gown every time she goes in public. She has this need to idolize herself, having a diorama or shrine or something to worship her life. “Imeldific”, a superiority complex that she thinks helps people. She erects that so many buildings, some eventually never get used and lets the workers die when it collapsed.

The part about how she sees life with her interconnected drawings freaked me out. I’m not sure if it was seriously how she thought, I respect individual ideas, but it really seemed outrageous and seemed to have a shallow basis. It was funny how she seemed to be so convinced that she is right in how she thinks.

The shallowness to her reasoning is surprising and what’s more surprising is the image she has been able to build an international reputation for herself under that mindset. Shocking that she has had some influence over other political figures around the world with such s strange perspective on herself and her duty. It is true that she has the self-confidence and position to make a statement, but is what she has to say really for the unadulterated benefit of the Filipino people or what she thinks is the “imeldific” thing to do since she is so rich that she must give back.

Imelda: Beauty Through The Years

by: Maria Teresa Llera 2013-40924

Everytime I hear or see the name “Imelda Marcos,” an image of dictatorship and suffering immediately comes to mind. This is because she is mostly known as the wife of the late president Ferdinand Marcos who brought Martial Law that really shattered the Filipinos during that time. Also, an image of a woman who has too many pairs of shoes comes to mind. Some people even said that Imelda never wore the same pair of shoes twice.

These descriptions of her are quite astounding, but when I watched the short film “Imelda” that documented the story of President Marcos’ wife, I realized that there is more to Imelda Marcos than just suffering and shoes.

In the film, Imelda’s love for beauty in everything that she sees and does was shown. Even when she was a child, Imelda already knew how to appreciate beauty. She never goes out of the house without grooming herself very well. When she became a lady, she joined a lot of beauty pageants, and she was even given the title “Muse of Manila.”  When she married Ferdinand Marcos, one of her many suitors, beauty was still with her. With every dress that she wore and with every step that she took, one could always see grace and elegance.

Imelda’s appreciation of beauty led her to the idea of building the Cultural Center of the Philippines, one of the biggest structures in the Philippines. Nowadays, it showcases beauty through cultural presentations and art.

The film basically showed what kind of woman Imelda Marcos is, aside from the common stereotype of her as the wife of the man who made a lot of Filipinos suffer. There’s more to Imelda than this – she is beautiful, smart, and graceful.

               

The Rhetoric of Cancer - Treading Strange Waters

by Erwin Umali | 2010 - 23119

The insight proposed by this radio show was both interesting and poignant. In a way, The Rhetoric of Cancer treads on strange waters -- between the realm of scientific medicine and human ethics and philosophy. Who are we, really? What constitutes our whole? If our body decides to create something that slowly destroys itself, how are we supposed to feel about it? The Rhetoric of Cancer attempts to tackle that viewpoint, and evoked questions in me that I never bothered asking before.

In a way, the radio show treaded on a fine line between personal psychology and science. It felt almost religious -- how, in spite of the suffering cancer has caused them, people learn to live and accept it, to the point where they question the reason why they try so hard to eradicate it. After all, it’s “part of me”. 

I didn’t really know what to feel afterwards. I’ve always viewed cancer as a menace that has to be thwarted no matter what, as a purely evil entity. Realizing that it’s part of you -- it’s definitely a strange affair. The Rhetoric of Cancer enlightened me how looking at everything in an objective, scientific way will not always pave the best path, especially when the human psyche is involved. While the logic is flawed, you can’t help but respect and empathize with the person suffering from something that he himself supposedly created.

Hater of Imelda

The thing about Miss Imelda Romualdez Marcos is that up until now she thinks that she’s the greatest thing that ever happened to the Philippines or maybe the world. After I watched the documentary film, Imelda, I could say that I didn’t really like Imelda’s attitude. In my opinion she was a proud and also egoistical old lady who thinks she has done our country a lot of good. Well, compared to a normal citizen like me, maybe she has done quite a number of things but were all of the things she has done contributed to the betterment of the Philippines? I don’t think so. And even if someone has done major contributions to the world, I still don’t think that she could act like she’s better than everybody and make other people feel like they haven’t done so much. A true noble man or woman would let his actions speak for himself and just be humble.

Even if Imelda shows a confident and proud attitude, I think that deep inside her is an insecure woman who wanted to matter in this world. Well, who could blame her, being a former first lady, people had high expectations and all she wanted to do was comply. Although I'm pretty sure she just wanted to justify the fact that she has bought a lot of expensive stuff by saying she has done a lot for the Philippines so quits right? Nope.

Krystine Robles 2013-70142 

Director's Cut It Is

I got confused by the "director's cut". I didn't know if it was part of the title or just something to describe the editing done to the film. As I searched for the movie in the net, I found and downloaded two films with different file title: "Blade Runner" and "Blade Runner: Director's Cut". I found out that the two are somewhat different..so I watched both.

The two films differ by the special effects and that in the latter, the narration was removed and replaced by sequence of dream effects, but the essence is still the same. "Blade Runner: Director's Cut" is a science fiction film with a mix of espionage. It is about the "blade runner"'s mission to kill the "replicants". But then, like as much as other movies, love moves in to the story. The film then shows how the tandem of the couple affects the plot more than themselves. The film presents a moral that is to be noticed by many; we are, not 'should', bounded by our own morality. A part of the film shows an irony on how a rich man was killed; how money couldn't him security, how one thing can't assure everything.

"Blade Runner: Director's Cut" is then another futuristic film of the past. I wonder how script writers, directors, and filmmakers of those times always fancy the future as a plot for their films. Most of the films viewed the future as progressive in terms of technology. Overall, "Blade Runner: Director's Cut" is somewhat better than the former. The creativeness and innovative of the director is seen in the difference of the two. I also love how espionage is blended with science fiction. It is worth the time to watch. :)

Xavier Noel Briones

2013-41022

The Woman Behind President Marcos

by Maricella D. Valdivia (2013-55498)

        I firmly believe the statement, "Behind every successful man, there is a strong, wise, and hardworking woman". It may be a mother, grandmother, or a sister, but in President Marcos' case, it's his wife, Imelda Romualdez. We are all aware of what Marcos did, and maybe what we can remember is the Martial Law. But if we really look back on the things he had done, it had a large impact on our economy. And now it's not Mr. Ferdinand E. Marcos who we would talk about, but it's his wife, the former Muse of Manila, Mrs. Imelda R. Marcos and what she had done as the mother of the Philippines.
        When we say Imelda, the first thing that comes to your head is shoes. But what really did she contributed in Marcos' term? Was she really a help for him? I've already heard stories about the huge buildings she built in Manila, and I wondered before "WHY IMELDA? SHE'S JUST THE FIRST LADY", and now I understand that President Marcos stands as the father of the republic whilst Imelda is the mother for the nation, the light that will guide the people. With the buildings she built, art and beauty was her focus. That the arts and folklore of the Philippines be cultivated. Maybe I didn't reach the time during the Marcoses, but I've heard of the great things during that period. The time when Manila seems to be like Singapore now.
        Imelda made a huge contribution especially in the arts. She also had her own book, yes, she has a point, but it's not the greatest. One said that Imelda needs a friend, I think that that person is right. In fact, based on Imelda's interview, I can feel that she's only into the fame and glory, and the praises other gives her. She's old now, and I bet she feels like the most beautiful person in the Philippines. Although I believe that life is full of beauty, I know for a fact that it is not all beauty. I think that Imelda is an optimistic person, and that she really loves to serve the people. But then, I do not know the whole thing that's on her mind, so I won't judge. But this is all my opinion.

The Aeron Chair: More than meets the eye

In 1992, Herman Miller Inc. hired an industrial designer named Bill Stumpf to design a totally brand new chair. Stumpf has worked with the company before on other chairs, specifically, the Ergon and the Equa. In an interview with Malcolm Gladwell, Stumpf mentioned not being satisfied with his first two efforts, even though they sold well. He said “The chairs I had done previously all looked alike, I wanted to come up with something that looked different.”

Stumpf wanted to create a chair that is holistic. He wanted the chair to be the most ergonomically correct chair possible. Inspired by the work of Stumpf’s mother, a gerontology nurse, they decided that chairs should be made with consultation from people who spent a lot of their time on chairs - older people in retirement homes.

At the time, most hospitals and retirement homes were equipped with La-Z-Boys. Stumpf and his partner, Don Chadwick, realized that a La-Z-Boy is awfully suited to the elderly. The elderly had to back up to the chair and most times simply fall, the levers were inaccessible, and the stuffing spread the user’s weight unevenly while the vinyl kept heat and moisture on the surface. Stumpf and Chadwick addressed these often unobserved problems and created the optimal chair.

The Aeron had its footrest under the seat, so that the sitter could brace himself while sitting. They also wanted to maximize support for the shoulders, so they designed the back of the chair wider at the top than at the bottom, back then a novel idea. The levers were also banished in favor of a pneumatic control, much like what we find in airplane seats. Lastly, instead of foam stuffing, Herman Miller created the Pellicle, a plastic fabric sewn together like lace that conforms to the contours of the sitter, relieving pressure points, allowing free flow of air and overall being more relaxing and comfortable.

Reading this description, one would be quick to praise this invention. However, when Stumpf and his team tested prototypes in Michigan, on a scale of 1 to 10, testers rated the Aeron an average of 4.75, with some Herman Miller employees calling the chair “Chair of Death”. This was because people gravitate toward seats that are senatorial, with thick cushions and high back support, throne-like - something with status, whereas the Aeron was the total opposite: wiry, slender, and black. It was comfortable, but it looked like a monstrosity.

Herman Miller’s CEO Dick Ruch was hesitant in releasing the Aeron. Sales estimates were dismal because of its unique appearance, but the use of the Pellicle instead of foam was the straw that pushed Ruch to sign off.

It turned out that its different look was not ugly, like the testers said, but revolutionary. People from Wall Street to Silicon Valley to Hollywood could not get over the chair. It won design awards in California and New York. There was even an episode of Will and Grace centered solely on the group acquiring an Aeron chair. What was a seemingly awry project became a success.

I chose this topic after having read about it in Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink. There are some days that I wonder whether there is still more to discover in this world, and this story inspires me that there is more, despite what experts and focus groups and CEOs will say. The limits of complexity (or in this case, simplicity) can be tested by looking at everyday things and improving on them.

(Shared on Google Drive March 9, 2014)

References:Kuang, C. 2012. The Secret History of the Aeron Chair. Co. Design. Accessed at http://www.slate.com/articles/life/design/2012/11/aeron_chair_history_herman_miller_s_office_staple_was_originally_designed.html on March 8, 2014.
Gladwell, M. 2005. The Chair of Death. Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking. Back Bay Books. New York City.
2014. Aeron - Office Chair - Herman Miller. Accessed athttp://www.hermanmiller.com/products/seating/performance-work-chairs/aeron-chairs.html on March 7, 2014.
Aeron Chair. Smart Furniture. Accessed at http://www.smartfurniture.com/t/Aeron%20Chair%20in%20Gladwells%20Blink%20-%20Smart%20Furniture on March 9, 2014.

Imelda Marcos - More Than Meets The Eye

by Jovialis Jill N. Yeung (2013-72341)

Honestly, I don't have that much of an opinion regarding Imelda Marcos other than that I don't like the way she carelessly spends so much money for clothing and shoes (and sometimes even multiple ones in the same style) all for the sake of beauty. After watching the documentary though, I found that while she still is someone who spends too much on luxury items, she has “noble” reasons for doing so. Her glamour is based on her desire to show the world that the Philippines is capable of matching world standards, and to show the Filipino people that because she (who came from a 3^rd rate province in a 3^rd world country) could make it big others can become great too. How she was able to become somebody after originally being a nobody is a very inspirational story, it makes one think that they too could be capable of greater things in life.

Imelda may seem to only be a symbol of beauty and nothing more but her principles in life are actually very grounded, the way she views the world with such optimism is to be admired. She sets goals for herself, and strives hard to achieve them. She doesn’t stick to her conventional role (when she was first lady) and instead tries to do what others before her couldn’t do.

Even though I don’t like her as a person that much, I can admit at least that her positive outlook on life, as well as her dreams for the Philippines and the Filipinos is very commendable. Her story is an example of success borne from the determination to excel.

4 Things You Didn’t Know About Graphene - Individual Project

by Erwin Dennis Umali | 2010 - 23119 | Individual Project | STS THY 2013-2014

When I tell you paper is a three dimensional object, three outcomes can happen. One is that you’d reject my statement and refute that something that thin cannot be three dimensional. I would then rebut by telling your arse to study basic physics more, and pull out the second outcome, that you’d have to agree with me -- because, while very small, paper does have thickness, duh. Third would be that you won’t care, but I’d have given you a paper cut by then so that shouldn’t matter.

So now let me present to you graphene, a material that excited the modern world so much that it was involved in frickin’ investment scams. But hey! you ask -- what does paper have to do with this material that sounds like a knockoff pencil lead substitute? Well…

4. Graphene is truly 2D

That’s right -- this thing is two dimensional. Like, how do you consider something as ‘two dimensional’? It has to look like this:

Pictured: not a game of Civilization on lowest settings.

Graphene is a carbon allotrope, which is a fancy way of saying that elements have relatives. Strictly speaking, allotropes have the same number of elementary particles, but they’re arranged differently, like how all K’Nex creations are basically K’Nex products, but arranged differently.

Art. Also, still K’Nex.

So then you have this 3D carbon K’Nex formation called graphite. Scientists thought, hey, maybe we can slice this graphite thinner and thinner! Scientists at the University of Manchester finally got it so thin that the interconnected carbon atoms look like chicken wire (by the way, that’s what it’s totally called). And when you have a single layer of atoms, you can’t really get much thinner than that. Hence, 2D.

Imagine this as K’Nex models. Different, but the same. Art.

So then that’s why the pencil in your pocket and the diamond ring in the boutique you’re about to rob can both be called ‘carbon’. You’d probably rob a phone, too, you thieving bastard, so you can possibly add that phone’s electronics as ‘carbon’ as well.

3. Graphene has amazing properties

Graphene had predicted as early as the 1980s to have interesting properties, but it was only until they produced the material in 2004 that verified how awesome graphene was. Like, ball-crushingly awesome.

Let the imagery sink in.

One of its properties is that it’s pretty fucking transparent -- since, you know, it’s pretty damn thin. Another is that it’s pretty fucking good at letting electrons flow through it -- so good, in fact, that it nears superconductivity levels, even at room temperature. That’s like going full Flash without the suit, and without the need to be Flash. Which is awesome.

That’s not all. Graphene is so durable and flexible, it makes kevlar blush. A single square meter sheet of graphene, weighing less than a feather, can support 4 kilograms. A bar made of the thing can support 100 times more pressure than a steel equivalent. Suddenly, orbital elevators don’t sound like coffee table science fiction any more -- because they’re actually already thinking about it.

And still, that’s not all. Again, due to its unique atomic structure, it can act as a pretty damn good water distiller. You can use it to easily filter salt water, for crying out loud.

Lookin’ pretty slick now, K’Nex.

So now you’ve got a material that is transparent, conducts electrons like nothing else before it, ungodly durable and flexible, and can even filter our most valued resource. Wow, it’s like...

2. Graphene can change everything

We’re in the future, kids. I mean, holy cow, you can now make transparent tech stuff. Imagine -- every screen can now actually have wires you can’t see. Suddenly, things like transparent smartphones can become more than just CG mock ups people seem to believe all the time.

The future is staring at glossy glass and smearing oil all over it.

And it’s not just in phones or screens; You can even use graphene to superpower other parts of circuits. Graphene with a capacitor? You get a ‘supercapacitor’ that can charge in seconds and provide hours of power. Too high-end? How about graphene with a battery? You get more long-lasting batteries, and, you get noticeable gains in battery quality wherever you put the material.

How about solar panels? Yup, you can totally use graphene, since it’s, you know, transparent and conducts electricity like a boss. What about chip components? Silicon and Moore’s Law can bid itself goodbye -- since 2D carbon lattices are much more compact than silicon, engineers can now theoretically create chipsets one atom layer at a time, making for some extremely small chip components.

And again, as mentioned before, it’s the modern age’s steel on steroids, and a miracle water distiller. What more can you ask for?

K’Nex graphene art?

What’s the catch?

It’s expensive and difficult to make. Only square centimeters of the stuff’s been made, through some interesting techniques, like, actually slicing graphite until it’s thin enough, which is as sophisticated as your mom slicing you a thin layer of cheese.

Cheese would arguably be more delicious.

But, as with other awesome things, eventually you’ll start seeing graphene in more stuff around you, right? I mean, c’mon, the proponents of graphene won a Nobel Prize in 2010, even though nothing substantial has been built out of it yet!

Sadly, that’s not yet the case -- many agree that it would take a few more years before mass production becomes feasible.

But you can help! Just invest a few thousand dollars to this unknown company and we’ll ensure the future of graphene in all things digital!

… What?

1. Graphene is so awesome, people are getting fooled

This shouldn’t surprise you; if someone showed you the technological era’s equivalent of gold, with the promise that it would become ‘big’, wouldn’t you want to ride that wave? Yes? Great! Now, sign these papers, and make sure to get ten more to sign up, and let them do that, too!

Investment scams are sprouting across the UK, and financial regulators have already issued warnings. Apparently, scammers are instilling fear that this revolutionary material would get sacked if it weren’t invested with enough. I mean, seriously? Something this big to be discontinued? Now that you’ve learned quite a few things about this two-dimensional wonder, don’t be swayed by tomfoolery like this. With something this revolutionary, encompassing technology, engineering, and even health and medicine, rest assured it’ll be at the palm of your hands in the near future.

Oh, I am not affiliated with K’Nex in any way.

Images used are copyright to their owners, and duly referenced. This writeup is for educational, non-profit purposes only. Writing style deliberately mimics the article style of Cracked.