Critical Response Papers Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Critical Response Papers - Research Paper Example In the meantime, the three candidates have to confront the disapproving society that considers their relationship as somewhat unconventional. The homosexual relationships illustrate some form of deviation from normative practices, which disallow sexual relationships that fall outside the accepted forms of behavior in the society. In essence, the three men have to build a private world that exists within the larger external world and attempt by different means to redefine the conventions that determine the rules of sexuality. It becomes important to consider the fact that some of the issues that connect to the reality around the world have to be considered from the point of view of masculinity and sexuality. In normal practice, it is important to consider the fact that some issues that relate to matters of general interest have to be determined from the point of view of desire as it affects the male characters. The kind of relationship that defines the character of the different peopl e has to be considered within the context of a range of issues that influence perceptions and conventions. Desire, according to the conventions of the society, relates to the differences in perceptions involving sexual orientations, which appear to challenge and disrupt normative practices. The confusion that characterizes the lives of the characters in the movie is most telling when considered from the point of view of Tina’s life. The film explores the question of gender in a way that opens up the possibility of individuals converting into another gender. Tina switches from being a boy to a girl in order to engage in a love relationship with her father. The film illustrates the aspect of transcending normative practices and increasing the possibility of transformation across the lines of gender. In essence, it becomes important to consider the fact that some of the issues that connect within the structure have to relate to various issues that affect and are, in turn, affect ed by the practices of the main characters. Lesbianism and gay relationships are explored in ways that demonstrate the variations from norms and dominant perspectives of the society. Male attraction to fellow men features prominently in the film in ways that illustrate the unconventional nature of inner feelings and unstable conditions that define the kind of relationship between the male subjects. The male characters are portrayed as generally capable of engaging the major differences between the main actors and the different issues that affect perceptions on matters of sexuality and sexual relationships of one gender. In this manner, it becomes appropriate to consider the fact that some of the issues that concern the differences in character are considered as a sum of various influences that determine the worldview of the characters as perceived from the relationship of the major characters. Tina’s relationship with her father shows the extreme form of sexual disorientation that redefines the relationship between the male subjects. Generally, the movie explores the various angles of gender and sexuality with specific attention to the male characters. The definition of gender acquires multiple understandings because it is separated from the dominant perceptions

Financial regulation in United Kingdom

Financial regulation in United Kingdom Introduction What policy-maker should do to improve the system of financial regulation to achieve its objectives more effectively becomes a hot topic especially after the financial crisis 2008. More and more people begin to pay attention to financial regulation. According to a survey from FSA in 2009, the spontaneous awareness of financial regulation amongst people living in Great Britain aged 16 was 21% and it is the highest level since the survey began[1]. This essay will analyse financial regulation in United Kingdom into three perspectives; the first part will explain how the system of financial regulation operates in the United Kingdom. Then, the reasons why financial services industry should be supervised by regulation such as FSA, and new challenges in this system in response to the financial crisis 2008 will be discussed in second part, final part will be some problems with the current system in my point of view to better protect the economy and consumer. The financial regulation system in United Kingdom First of all, a brief review of the history in the late 20th century of financial regulation system in United Kingdom may be necessary and useful to establish a better background and deeper understanding. Londons financial district is known as The City for many years, until the end of 1970s there was no specific banking law in the UK, however, prompted by the secondary banking crisis in 1972, the Banking Act 1979 was promulgated and assigned formal responsibility for supervision of the UK banks (Heffernan 2007)[2]. The evolution of the UKs financial sector since the early 1980s can be thought of as the gradual confluence of three previously quite separate streams. These are the primary banking sector, monitored and supervised by the Bank of England; the organized markets in the City, and the rest of the financial sector, including building societies and insurance companies and licensed securities dealers, each of these steams exhibited significant differences in the style and nature of regulation, especially in the balance between statutory and self-regulation(Blair)[3]. As the consequence of the Stock Exchanges Big Bang, which means a series of financial reforms to encourage greater competition, the aim of Financial Services Act (1986) was to protect investors. One year after, the Bank Act 1987 was amended to the Banking Act 1979, this Act established a new Board of Bank Supervision, which assists the Bank of England in regulating other banks. The closure of BCCI (1991) and the bankruptcy of Barings (1995) exposed the problems of the supervisory abilities of the Bank of England and the drawbacks of the self-regulation (Heffernan, 2007)[4]. On 20 May 1997, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced the reform of financial services regulation. In this resolution, banking supervision and investment services regulation were merged into the Securities and Investments Board (SIB), which changed its name to the Financial Services Authority in October 1997. Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 made the FSA became the sole regulator of all United Kingdom financial institutions. Since that time, FSA took the responsibility for all aspects of financial regulation progressively. According to the Financial Services and Markets Act, several other organisations responsibilities were transferred to the FSA, such as Building Societies Commission, Friendly Societies Commission, and Investment Management Regulatory Organisation. FSA superv ises the financial services industry as an independent non-governmental body, given statutory powers by the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000; We are a company limited by guarantee and financed by the financial services industry. The Treasury appoints the FSA Board, which currently consists of a Chairman, a Chief Executive Officer, two Managing Directors, and ten non-executive directors (including a lead non-executive member, the Deputy Chairman). This Board sets our overall policy, but day-to-day decisions and management of the staff are the responsibility of the Executive. FSA has four statutory objectives, maintaining confidence in the financial system, promoting public understanding of the financial system, securing the appropriate degree of protection for consumers; and reducing the extent to which it is possible for a business to be used for a purpose connected with financial crime (FSA, 2005)[5]. According to Heffernan (2007)[6], FSA tries to make a balance between risk and competition. RTO (risk to our objectives) approach is used widely to manage the risk in firms that supervised by the FSA (except the telecommunications and utilities sectors, etc), RTO also gives a score of probability of a certain firm to be a target for preventing the FSA from achieving its four statutory objectives. The score is easily calculated through: Impact score = (impact of the problem) * (probability of the problem arising) Each firm will be scored from A (very high risk) to D (low risk), and the score will also indicate the strength of supervision that FSA implements in a firm. Being a member of EU, UK financial regulation is influenced by EUs regulation in financial service industry, which is Financial Service Action Plan. An article named The EU Financial Services Action Plan: A Guide[7](2003), which prepared by HM Treasure, the Financial Services Authority and the Bank of England, introduced that UK financial law was effectively determined by the FSAP. It means that any UK financial regulation should not be conflict contradictory, and the UK authorities should be keen to ensure that the UK financial sector, corporate sector and consumer groups are consulted on, and fully understand the impact of, FSAP measures. European Commission uses FSAP to improve EU financial markets to be a Single Market, FSAP aims to fill gaps and eliminate remaining barriers among all EU members. Furthermore, in order to make EU financial services worked more effectively, Lamfalussy process was launched by EU Committee. It is a four-level, regulatory approach for adoption. Trying to consider the relationship between FSA and FSAP, the article also addressed that the FSA not only has extreme influence in UKs financial services, but also make its own contributions in EU, HM Treasury, the FSA and the Bank play key roles in identifying, influencing, promoting and overseeing the UKs interests in financial services in the EU. Promoting public understanding of the financial system and ensuring an appropriate degree of protection for consumers are objectives of FSA which also inform in EU. Why we need financial services industry to be regulated A brief history of UK financial regulation, which was introduced at the beginning of this article, may be a part of the whole picture. However, there are other extremely important reasons that hastened the coming of a type of financial regulation represented by FSA. At first, it is still necessary to review an important feature, which is self-regulation, in the development of the FSA. Self-regulation has proved to be an effective and reasonably efficient system for the British securities industry until very recently[8] (Rider). However, just like the historical review that illustrated above, with the upward rising of scandals and the dramatic change in security market, the foundation of the monopoly of self-regulation mechanism was challenged before the emergence of the super-regulator. Although FSA 1986 seemed that make a balance between statutory framework and self-regulation, the financial regulation system was still largely depended on self-regulation. The issue of mis-selling pensions has the most impact to make the government to make the final decision to end the self-regulation. Public confidence was significantly lost in personal pensions at that time and the truth that SIB lack adequate enforcement powers to take regulatory actions prec ipitated the process of giving financial service industry a statutory regulation system. After FSMA 2000, FSAs enforcement is safeguarded and the whole financial system in United Kingdom has leaned to be supervised in statutory way rather than self-regulated. The economic rationale for regulation will be examined as follow. According to an article, The Economic Rationale for Financial Regulation[9], written by David Llewelyn (1999), he analyses several reasons why there is a demand for a systematic regulation in economic world. Firstly, there are potential systemic risks in financial industry especially in banking industry. The main systemic risk is bank run, and worse still; this can leads to a solvent bank becoming insolvent since the limitation of most bank assets to be marketable, and due to asymmetric information problems, bank assets cannot be sold at par as potential buyers, these will add a high risk premium in the purchase price. Therefore, for the sake of depositors and banking institutions, a type for regulation on the bases of systemic risk is necessary. Secondly, market is not perfectly competitive. The main reason of market imperfection is that not all the investors can get adequate information of a certain market which they are engaging in, and this will impose costs on the consumer. Consequently, regulation plays a significant role to make sure the process of information disclosure and reinforce an effective market environment. In the article, he also explained the economies of scale in monitoring. Because of the nature of financial contracts between financial firms and their customers there is a need for continuous monitoring of the behaviour of financial firms. Regulatory agencies should monitor the financial firms in the name of consumers, since regulatory agencies are more effective and cost less in monitoring financial firms. After financial crisis 2008 Almost all of the financial regulation agency aim to maintain the stability of the financial market and consumers confidence; however, the change of real market circumstance seems faster than policy-makers precautionary measures. According to a speech, The financial crisis and the future of financial regulation[10] from Adair Turner, the Chairman of the FSA, he explained the main reason why this extreme crisis happened is the interaction between macroeconomic imbalances and the fast development in financial market which happened last ten years. In his speech, since the decline of the real risk free rates of interest, such as government bonds, credit extension was got a chance of dramatic growth especially in residential industry with deteriorated credit standards. Moreover, a desire to find a substitute for government bonds among investors who want to gain as much as possible spread above the risk-free rate was exploded. Sophisticated investment banks created a new kind of securitized credit instruments and it boomed so quickly, but unfortunately, like Lord Turner said: Not all innovation is equally useful, it collapsed since the investors became irrational. To reduce the adverse impact in economy, rebuild th e investor confidence and avoid future crisis, he pointed several strategies that regulators may concentrate on improving the regulation system. He argued that financial system should modify originate and distribute model which refer to securitized credit model easier to be understood, and more transparent to end investors. He also suggested that a new regime for capital adequacy and liquidity is necessary to lower the possibility of future crisis. In the end of his speech, he emphasized that financial regulation should always ensure that financial activities are regulated on the basis of their economic substance instead of their legal form. In the Turner Review[11] published by FSA in March 2009, there are more specific approaches about banking supervision that FSA plans to change and introduce. All the recommends can be highly summarized to be seven key measures as follow: Increasing the quantity and quality of bank capital. Significant increases in trading book capital: and the need for fundamental review. Avoiding procyclicality in Basel 2 implementation. Creating counter-cyclical capital buffers. Offsetting procyclicaality in published accounts. A gross leverage ratio backstop. Containing liquidity risks: in individual banks and at the systemic level. (FSA, 2009) After the financial crisis happened, FSA has been undertaking massive actions to improve regulation system. For example, according to FSA Annual Report 2008/09[12], the Banking Act 2009 is mainly able to resolve default problem and strengthen financial stability; as a result, a new bank insolvency procedure was introduced. A statement from FSA about Banking Act 2009 from FSA in July 2009 claimed that the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) can not only pay compensation to eligible customers of a financial firm if that firm including deposit takers is unable, or likely to be unable, to pay claims against it but also can also be required to contribute to the costs arising from the actions taken under the SRR.[13] In addition, FSA increased the general depositor protection limit from  £35,000 to  £50,000 per person per deposit-taking institution which will cover most of retail deposits in October 2008. In the aspect of supervising firms capital adequacy, FSA made efforts to let firms which have most impact know essential controls and standards by Dear CEO letter. Closely cooperated with EU and global regulation, FSA played an important role in G20 London Summit in April 2009, which focused on the future priorities for global financial regulation, and Basel Committee on Banking Supervision. Many recommendations, which became detailed international agreements, were from FSA. According to FSA Business Plan 2009/10[14], the FSA will intensively focus on the competence of Significant Influence Functions (SIF) individuals in high-impact firms. The Plan announced five core improvements that FSA will be focus on, which included an upgraded Training and Competence (TC) scheme for relationship-management supervisors, a new tenure policy (it will provide a framework for the minimum and maximum time a supervisor should manage a firm). My view in current UKs financial supervisory system During the accumulation of the knowledge of the history about the development of UKs financial regulation and the causes of financial crisis 2008, I find it is a process that the financial regulation continuously suits the changeable financial services industry, financial regulations solutions seem behind a certain innovations in financial market which has already begun cause negative effects in the whole economy. Financial crisis 2008 is evidence to prove that if financial regulation does not detect potential problems in a certain financial innovation and does not make adjustment promptly, a new crisis would be inevitably and it would cost a lot to correct the system along the right track. Therefore, an important lesson from crisis 2008 is financial regulation should always pay close attention to the moving direction of the market and fully analyses a financial innovation. A suggestion in my point of view is that financial regulation may has legislative to investigate and estimate p otential risk within a new financial product before it begin it to sell, and this procedure may require close cooperation with related financial institution. On the other hand, financial crisis 2008 make regulators intensively focus on risk-based analysis especially in banking or like-banking institutions, but it should not equal to discourage financial innovation. Almost all the financial derivatives contain risk, while, as long as regulators estimate it appropriately, these new financial products that contained huge intelligence can benefit consumers. Conclusion Being a single financial regulator in United Kingdom, Financial Services Authority has powers which was given by Financial Services and Market Act (FSMA) to supervise Britain financial industry. Demand for such kind of regulation can be observed in history and economic perspectives. Financial crisis 2008 as a prelude to FSA reinforces its system, supervision in banking industry become more intensively. The crisis also gave regulators a lesson that it is necessary to establish a balance between surpluses and deficits on the global level in the long-term, in addition, prudential analysis should be in a more effective way in order to reduce systematic risk. Finally, not just FSA, but all the other financial regulations should cooperate closely to build a more stable global financial system and avoid future crisis. Word Count: 2564/2500 Reference: Consumer awareness of the FSA and financial regulation, Consumer Research 80, FSA, 2009 Heffernan, S. (2007). Modern banking. John Wiley Sons, Ltd, pp.200-242 Blair et al, Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, pp. 1-16 Heffernan, S. (2007). Modern banking. John Wiley Sons, Ltd, pp. 231-232 FSA, 2005, http://www.fsa.gov.uk/Pages/About/Who/History/index.shtml Heffernan, S. (2007). Modern banking. John Wiley Sons, Ltd, pp. 235-237 THE EU FINANCIAL SERVICES ACTION PLAN: A GUIDE, 31 July 2003, http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pubs/other/fsap_guide.pdf Rider, Abrams and Ashe, Guide to Financial Services Regulation, pp. 1-26 The Economic Rationale for Financial Regulation, FSA Occasional Paper Series 1, April 1999, http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pubs/occpapers/OP01.pdf The financial crisis and the future of financial regulation, Speech by Adair Turner, The Economists Inaugural City Lecture, 21 January 2009 The Turner Review: A regulatory response to the global banking crisis, FSA, March 2009, http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pubs/other/turner_review.pdf FSA Annual Report 2008/09, http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pages/Library/Corporate/Annual/ar08_09.shtml Policy Statement 09/11, Banking and compensation reform, FSA, http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pubs/policy/ps09_11.pdf FSA Business Plan 2009/10, http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pages/Library/Corporate/Plan/bp2009.shtml Consumer awareness of the FSA and financial regulation, Consumer Research 80, FSA, 2009 Heffernan, S. (2007). Modern banking. John Wiley Sons, Ltd, pp.200-242 Blair et al, Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, pp. 1-16 Heffernan, S. (2007). Modern banking. John Wiley Sons, Ltd, pp. 231-232 FSA, 2005, http://www.fsa.gov.uk/Pages/About/Who/History/index.shtml Heffernan, S. (2007). Modern banking. John Wiley Sons, Ltd, pp. 235-237 THE EU FINANCIAL SERVICES ACTION PLAN: A GUIDE, 31 July 2003, http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pubs/other/fsap_guide.pdf Rider, Abrams and Ashe, Guide to Financial Services Regulation, pp. 1-26 The Economic Rationale for Financial Regulation, FSA Occasional Paper Series 1, April 1999, http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pubs/occpapers/OP01.pdf The financial crisis and the future of financial regulation, Speech by Adair Turner, The Economists Inaugural City Lecture, 21 January 2009 The Turner Review: A regulatory response to the global banking crisis, FSA, March 2009, http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pubs/other/turner_review.pdf FSA Annual Report 2008/09, http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pages/Library/Corporate/Annual/ar08_09.shtml Policy Statement 09/11, Banking and compensation reform, FSA, http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pubs/policy/ps09_11.pdf FSA Business Plan 2009/10, http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pages/Library/Corporate/Plan/bp2009.shtml

Promoting Family Values in Macbeth Essay example -- Macbeth essays

Promoting Family Values in Macbeth  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚   The play Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, was first printed in 1623, and is a play that is confrontational and disturbing to the values of the audience. Values such as truth, masculinity, security and goodness are all implied in the play, as their opposites are shown to be destructive and life shattering. Of all of Shakespeare’s plays, Macbeth is the one most obsessively concerned with evil. It is dark, brooding and bloodthirsty; by way of illustration, the only function of the messenger to Lady MacDuff is to prepare the audience for bloodshed. Blood in itself is considered an evil image and it aids in character development, as seen in the description of Macbeth at the start. According to Duncan, gutting someone like a fish is worthy of praise such as â€Å"Oh valiant cousin, Oh worthy Gentleman!† To the people of the age, being able to kill someone with such skill is a good thing†¦ of course, it does mean that Macbeth has the potential to snap. The evil imagery in the play also helps with the rising tension – the old man’s description of the horses devouring each other is a prime example of this. Macbeth himself is essentially evil as well; when he knows he is going to die, instead of taking the honorable way out by committing suicide he decides to take as many people with him as he can. It is somewhat ironic therefore that â€Å"Macbeth† means â€Å"son of life†. The evil that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth create within themselves means that the audience is made to experience the psychological emptiness involved in committing a murder. Evil is inevitably destructive, but it is also self-destructive. By murdering Duncan, Macbeth is destroying himself; his â€Å"single state of man† is shaken by his... ...elm.   Criticism on Shakespeare s Tragedies . A Course  Ã‚     of Lectures on Dramatic Art and Literature. London: AMS Press, Inc., 1965.  Ã‚   Shakespeare, William.   Tragedy of Macbeth . Ed. Barbara Mowat and Paul  Ã‚   Warstine. New York: Washington Press, 1992.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Steevens, George. Shakespeare, The Critical Heritage. Vol. 6. London:  Ã‚   Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1981.  Ã‚   T.W. Shakespeare, the Critical Heritage. Vol. 5. London: Routledge & Kegan  Ã‚   Paul, 1979.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Wills, Gary. Witches & Jesuits. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995.     Epstein, Norrie, The Friendly Shakepeare, New York, Viking Publishing, 1993. Harbage, Alfred, Macbeth, Middlesex England, Penguin Publishing, 1956. Magill, Masterplots- Volume 6, New Jersey, Salem Press, 1949. Staunten, Howard, The Complet Illustrated Shakespeare, New York, Park Lane Publishing, 1979.      

A History of Journalism in the Philippines Essay

Revolution, the press, which plays a potent role in the promotion of truth, justice, and democracy, and of peace, progress, and prosperity, was liberated from dictatorship. During this period, crony newspapers were closed and the National Press Club and the Philippine Press Institute were revived to professionalize mass media in the country. During this period, significant changes, advances, and developments have taken place in Philippine journalism. Newspapers and periodicals have expanded in pages, sections, coverages, and circulations. They have become venues of sensitive issues like death penalty, charter change, juetengate scandal, and visiting forces agreement, and of diverse issues about the civil society, land reform, human rights, genders issues, and other areas that before the 1986 EDSA Revolution were previously ignored or minimally covered. Some investigative reports have led to further investigations, have enhanced transparency, and have reduced corruption in the judiciary, executive, and legislative branches of the government. These developments are attributed to the continuing efforts of the newspaper and the periodical industry and their research and academic organizations: the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, which conducts rigorous research in the affairs of the state; the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, which upgrades professionalism and responsibility of media practitioners through seminars, workshops, and publications; the Philippine Press Institute, which conducts trainings and sponsors the Annual Community Press Awards that recognizes excellence among provincial newspapers and periodicals; and the Asian Institute of Journalism and Communication, which offers graduate studies in journalism and in communication management and conducts media research, interim training, and policy advocacy. In 1998, there are 14 daily broadsheets and 19 tabloids published in Metro  Manila. Among the broadsheets with the biggest circulations include the Manila Bulletin with a claimed circulation of 280 000 on weekdays and 300 000 on weekends and the Philippine Daily Inquirer with a claimed circulation of 260 000 on weekdays and 280 000 on weekends. Among the tabloids with the biggest circulations include the Abante with a claimed circulation of 417 600 and the People’s Journal with a claimed circulation of 382 000. Out of the 408 provincial newspapers and periodicals, 30 are printed daily, 292 are published weekly, and the rest are circulated either monthly or quarterly. Today, based from the 2000 Philippine Media Fact Book, there are 559 print publications, 475 broadsheets, 45 magazines, and 39 tabloids and comics; 22 percent are published in the National Capital Region, 12 broadsheets, 17 tabloids, 32 magazines, 39 comics, and 5 Chinese newspapers. Among the broadsheets with the biggest circulations include the Philippine Daily Inquirer with a daily circulation of 257 416, followed by the Philippine Star, 251 000, and the Manila Bulletin, 240 000. Other broadsheets with their daily circulation are as follows: Today, 152 268; Kabayan, 150 000; Malaya, 135 193; Manila Standard, 96 310; Sun Star Manila, 87 000; Philippine Post, 78 218; The Manila Times, 75 000; Business World, 61 283; and The Daily Tribune, 50 000. Among the tabloids with the biggest circulations include Bulgar with a daily circulation of 448 450, followed by the People’s Journal, 382 200, and the People’s Tonight, 365 811. Other tabloids with their daily circulation are as follows: Remate, 310 000; Abante, 260 000; Bandera, 253 523; Pilipino Star Ngayon, 250 200, People’s Bagong Taliba, 210 000; Balita, 175 725; Tempo, 160 000; Abante Tonight, 150 000; Isyu, 126 835; Saksi Ngayon, 100 000; Remate Tonight, 90 000; Balita sa Hapon, 35 000; and Sun Star Bulilit, 30 000. Among the Sunday supplements of daily newspapers, Panorama of the Manila Bulletin has the highest number of circulation, 300 000, followed by the Sunday Inquirer Magazine of the Philippine daily Inquirer, 268 575, and the Starweek Magazine of the Philippine Star, 268 000. Among the entertainment magazines, Glitter has the highest number of circulation with 300 000, followed by the Pilipino Reporter News Magazine, 188 192, and the Woman Today, 184 900. __________________________________________________________ Inquiry, Dissent, and Struggle Javier Flores and Ava Vivian Gonzales Though the Philippine Collegian retains the singular distinction of being the most illustrious campus paper in the country, there is no single Collegian. A rummage through the archives, through pages crumbling with age, reveals an impermanence of its character. There are indeed as many versions of the Collegian as there are batches of writers and students, and passing crises peculiar to different times. Each generation names its own foes. The process of writing, subversive as it is, fords the inter-generational divide. Such exercise puts one upon inquiry, the starting point of advocacy. When one writes, one requires breathing space: the right to dissect any topic under the sun and in the domain of heaven, and the right not to be interfered with in so doing. The practice of interrogating accepted modes of thinking and overturning paradigms breeds criticism of the powers that be. In the Collegian’s storied past, this criticism, coming at times when to be informed was an offense, was not always welcome. There were issues which came out with white spaces where editorials should have been. Homobono Adaza, then editor in chief (EIC), was removed from office for writing an editorial against the UP Administration. During the Martial Law years, staffers were threatened that they would not graduate if they persisted in  attacking the government. The bright lives of some of its editors: Abraham Sarmiento Jr., Antonio Tagamolila, and Enrique Voltaire Garcia III, among a host of others, were snuffed out. The history of the Collegian is likewise replete with struggles against those who desired to shackle the freedom of writers: the fight against vague provisions on the selection of judges for the editorial exam; the battle to abolish the position of a faculty adviser who had to sign every page proof of the paper; and the endeavor to take care of its own coffers without the Administration holding its finances hostage. Since the birth of Collegian in 1922, generations of writers have dipped their pens into the inkwell of society racked with vicissitudes. The Collegian was a party in their efforts to resolve the varied inequities of the times with articles that seared, and commentaries that burned. It is imperative that we turn the page to remind us of the efforts of those who came before us. Perfection lies not behind us, but ahead of us. It is not a forsaken paradise, but a territory we must one day conquer, a city we must one day build. Nevertheless, it is not a mortal sin to occasionally contemplate the cornerstones that have been placed by those before us to show us what is possible.

Bantay-Dagat Program (Unfinished)

Introduction Our environment is our primary concern today, for the environment that have nurtured us and provided us with everything that we need for sustenance is now in peril. Pollution, destruction of forests, extinction of floral and faunal species, coral bleaching, loss of arable due to erosion – all of these, and more, are the products of man’s destructive activities that continually threaten our fragile environment. Furthermore, the constant ruining of the environment often creates catastrophes that can, and will, endanger our very own lives.Therefore, we must conserve, protect, and save our environment for environment’s sake, for our children’s sake, and for our sake. In connection, we, the students of the University of the Philippines in the Visayas of the NSTP-CWTS program AY 2012-2013 heed to the call of the world for a new wave of young people who can bring change towards their fellowmen in the context of environmentalism, envisioned to do our part in the fruitful conservation of Mother Nature.This plan of action of ours is our own way as students to meet local and national conservation efforts towards a more sustainable development of our beloved country. Description The Bantay Dagat Project as proposed by the National Service Training Program (NSTP) officers is a program in which the beautification of native beaches and awakening of the community’s awareness regarding proper waste disposal are accentuated as the principal goals.Background The beaches of Brgy. Santo Nino Sur are said to be one of the best beaches in the province of Iloilo, visited annually by many local and foreign tourists alike. However, decades of human occupation have tarnished the beauty of the site, and is now littered with a lot of garbage. There are lot of floating debris in the sea, and the coast is strewn with many unwanted materials, suggesting years of uncareful management of the area.