The Catholic University of Korea (CUK) Scholarship for Graduate Studies

The Catholic University of Korea Graduate Program for Philippine Students
Application is now open. Deadline is on March 7, 2010.

Purpose
- To provide top-level students from the Philippines with opportunities for higher-education in Korea
- To enhance the globalization of the CUK campus by creating a more diverse atmosphere
- To promote international exchange in education and mutual friendship between Korea and the Philippines

Quota
- Around 25 students

Recruitment Plan
1. Entrance period: Fall semester, 2010 (September 2010)
2. Programs: graduate program
Department and Majors
- Business Administration
- International Studies – American Studies, Chinese Studies, International Relations, International Trade
- Public Administration
- Computer Sciences & Engineering
*As for the science and engineering departments, students admitted with undergraduate degree in same or related majors
*Information, Communications and Electronic Engineering

The opportunities for admission to other majors shall be extended in the future.

3. Language of Instruction: English
A minimum number of courses about Korean language will be offered.

4. Eligibility
Program Eligibility
[Graduate] Nationals of the Philippines
Graduates or graduates-to-be of college (undergraduate program)
(as for the graduate-to-be, the student must be able to study from September, 2009 in CUK)

5. Screening
The screening will be conducted on the basis of overall evaluation according to paper screening and interview results.

Privileges
1. Exempt from tuition and on-campus residence fee during the whole study
§ Graduate program: 2 years

(※ On condition that the applicant shall meet GPA of over 3.0 in a scale of 4.0.)

2. Monthly payment is available for the students who work part-time jobs on campus (such as English Assistantship).

3. Round-trip airfare provided

4. Internship opportunities at local companies arranged during study (as for candidates)

5. When the applicant completes the degree in CUK, Job opportunities with Korean companies may be offered

6. When the applicant acquires a Ph.D. at CUK, a job opportunity as a teaching staff at CUK will be offered

Application Deadline:

The end of May, 2009

Required Documents
1. Application for Admission (CUK Form)
2. Study Plan and Personal Statement (Free Form)
3. A copy of Certificate of college graduation (or certified expected graduation form)
4. A copy of college official transcript of whole year (all the ranks and marks must be included on the transcript).
5. A recommendation letter by teacher or professor serving as relevant department head
6. Proof of Foreign Status (i.e., A copy of the first page of passport)

Inquiries

For further information, please inquire to Office of International Affairs

Address: Office of International Affairs, The Catholic University of Korea
Tel. No.: + 82-2-2164-4116, 4957
Fax No.: + 82-2-2164-4751
E-mail: cukintl@catholic.ac.kr

Click here for more information
Download the application form.
Download the application for admission.

A Thumbnail of the Future: Thoughts on Avatar (movie)

---contains spoilers---

-----contains spoilers------

A Thumbnail of the Future

ALL STORIES MUST HAVE BEEN TOLD AT LEAST ONCE
Most of us do realize that environmental destruction is real, that global warming is more than a green political rhetoric. The Earth is crashing down at a rate faster and deeper than at any other point in history, and it is exactly because of this prolonged fall and unfathomable depth that we are bereft of inspired action.
Yesterday night I went to the cinema with friends and saw Avatar in 3D. I thought it would just be another humdrum doomsday flick playing on human vulnerabilities by the forces of nature. It was, in fact, the opposite. It wasn’t nature picking on man. Viruses didn’t convert homo sapiens to homo ergmonsters or the quakes flattening the White House. What was portrayed in Avatar is nature, which is a mother, someone who does not take sides, preserves balance, and lives with and within harmony. For those who have seen the movie, or even just the poster, might have predicted the end in the first few minutes of the movie. The plot is easy to regard as linear, yes. I thought it was. But I also thought that Avatar knows exactly what it is and what it wants to convey to the audience sans the convolution of artificially concocted cerebral conversations. It mission is clear and it did not let even the most brilliant visual effects overshadow it.
Avatar is another wakeup call to those being called but are still walking half asleep. For this reason, films with environmental undertones should never be dismissed.

HUMANS, NA’VIS AND AVVYS
For two and a half hours I ran throughout Pandora, meeting creatures modeled after civil savagery (in which description humans fit hand in glove), seeing bioluminiscent trees whose roots have grown deeper than my thoughts, meeting Jake and Grace reminding me that even the most callous ecological plunderer could put a stop to the death of birth. It was a long rough run but it was nothing like treading on a thin fracturing crust for three flat hours or escaping a humongous tornado that seems to possess a face recognition technology. While watching the movie, my seat was converted into an avatar capsule, merging me with the movie and the symbolisms it holds. First, there are the Na’vis, people of Pandora. They are the Tutsis. The Aetas. The minority. It is in their land where a mineral called unobtainum that sells for 20million USD can be mined. The Na’vis believe that every single creature is connected by a force called Eywa. And there are the humans who, after killing their mother, are now living in space in constant search for energy. Trite as it may seem, the plot just revolves around how humans can drive away the Na’vis from their ancestral land in order to obtain the unobtanium (sounds pretty much like the article “Dam Nation”). In order to avert conflict between the two species, Grace, a senior scientist, created a Na’vi that can be neurologically linked with a person. Instead of a human walking through the unwelcoming forests on Pandora, the Avatars, physically stronger and abler than a human body is, are sent instead. The paraplegic Jake Sully was given his late brother’s avatar and was sent onto a mission to gain the trust of the natives, with an ulterior motive of persuading them to move out of their ancestral home. Jake had to learn the culture of the Na’vis. He spent three months in the forest and has successfully went through a number of rites of passage. Eventually he developed a strong affinity with the Na’vis. He gave up the mission, even if it means not being able to get his legs back. As it became for him, his life as a human is the dream and living as a Na’vi is the reality. He found his self in his avatar.

EXTRA THOUGHTS
About Pandora
In Avatar, the Earth was not portayed as a fickle-minded mom that just kills on a whim by splashing its babies with lava or throwing at them flying kisses at 400 kilometers per hour. The Earth just restores balance. That means balance should first be offset and only then will nature act to reverse a tremendous pollution, or in the case of the movie, to suppress the mechanized warfare initiated by the humans. Eywa possesses a power to do that. Toruk, the huge predatory bird effectively embodies nature’s impartial and benign destructive power, and that which Jake harnessed to lead the war against the humans, and that which he let go of after the war has ended.

About the Love Story, Life, and Death
-Neytiri should not have had mated with Jake because she was already binded with another man. I suppose there should also be a ritual for that (arranged marriage). Given that there is, then she she must have violated Eywa’s biddings. One more thing, it was under an “Eywa” tree that they did ‘it’. >.< So yeah, a little bit of uneasiness in there.
-It is defensible to kill another living thing in self-defense, but it is never a reason for joy that the other has survived. Perhaps the attacked has placed himself in direct opposition to an erstwhile unaggressive yet territorial creature. Remember, human encroachment to forests and habitat destruction result to a cobra-infested sofa.
-At first, I felt that dying was not given its due ceremonial response in the movie, and the feeling was reinforced when Tsu’tey was shot and fell off his banshee. Was it easy to just rub off characters in the movie even if it occurs en-masse? And then I realized the movie does not focus on individual lives being reclaimed by Eywa, but about life that all sentient creatures on Pandora share. The death of the Tree and of any grander cause must be worse than any individual death that has ever occurred in the encounter.

THE ENDING
I felt quite disturbed when the humans were exiled from Pandora (back to where they came from perhaps) because I thought greed stops at nothing. If the humans are after an energy source then that means the humans on Pandora aren’t the only ones left. They must be supplying a population that’s large and is militarily ready to strike the Na’vis back in a moment’s time. Do you think the humans would assail Pandora again? Or would have they learned an invaluable lesson about harmony and life?

Teaching in an International School

HIRING:
Full-time high school Social Studies teacher @ MIT International School in Alabang Muntinlupa City.

Tasks:
1) teaching World History and Advanced Placement Comparative Government and Politics; 4 hours/day
2) preparing weekly lesson plans
3) preparing quarter grades and all those teacher stuff

Full-time high school English teacher @ MIT International School

Tasks:
1) teaching Literature (American and salient literary works of other cultures) to Grades 10 and 11
2) teaching Grammar and Composition to Grades 9 and 10
3) preparing weekly lesson plans
4) preparing quarter grades, etc.
5) 4 hours/day

Benefits:
1) East-West insurance
2) perfect attendance incentive
3) teaching resources are provided
4) air conditioned rooms with large LCD & PC
5) small class (9-15 students)

*Work starts on March 1, 2010. Application is until Feb 24 (Social Science).
*Work starts on January 4, 2010. Application is open till the post is taken (English).
Send me your resume if interested.

Need I Say More?

PacMan pwns!

Love Letters

Watching full-length movies has never been a possibility for me these days. Short movies and youtube have always been my form of break and source of entertainment. I particulary like this one: Signs. It's a 10-minute clip about two people separated by distance and bridged not by email but by traditional letter.

Japan-ASEAN Student Conference

[all errors, sic.]

Are you a student at an AUN Member University?

The JAPAN-ASEAN Student Conference will be held in Japan on 13-19 November 2009.

The Japan-ASEAN Student Conference proposed by the government of Japan is in pursuit of forging networks among 120 and 30 youths from ASEAN and Japan in building mutual understanding and network of initiative. Reflecting the Three Pillars of envisioned ASEAN community, the Conference set discussion themes around (1) Environment (political-security), (2) Economy, and (3) Socio-Culture.


1. All expenses will be shouldered by the Japanese Government

The air ticket of students will be provided by travel agency subcontracted with JICE



2. The application package and documents send out from AUN Secretariat includes:

· Application Guideline

· Entry Form

· Sheet for Academic Background

· VISA Application

· Description sheet of three discussion themes

· List of travel agency subcontracted with JICE in ASEAN country



3. Qualifications of the applicant

Age between 18-25 (undergraduate or graduate students)
Have English Proficiency
Have a deep understanding and relevant background in the assigned theme
Have basic knowledge of ASEAN-Japan relationships is desirable
Have not been participated in JENESYS projects
Preference to be given to the students who had been participated the ASEAN University Youth Summit 2008, Thailand.


4. Require documents from applicant:

· Entry Form

· Information Sheet on Academic Background

· Two photo (5x5 cm)

· Three copies of passport

· VISA Application

· Essay (1000 – 1500 Words)

· One Recommendation Letter



5. The documents’ collection:

Documents submitted to AUN: (the soft files submission is desirable)

· Copy of Passport

· Entry Form

· Essay

· Recommendation letter

· Information Sheet on Academic Background



Documents that should be kept at AUN Member Universities in each country (for visa arrangement):

· Copy of Passport

· Visa application form (two original with photo for each)

· Copy of Entry Form



6. The deadline of submission

Please submit the list of candidate to AUN Secretariat by 10 September 2009

The submission documents (please see details on Item 5) can be sent to AUN Secretariat later but not later than 16 September 2009.



7. Selection process

The candidates from AUN Member Universities will be selected by the Steering Committee which comprises AUN Secretariat, JICE and Japanese Embassy, Thailand. The successful candidates will be announced by the end of September.



8. Visa Arrangement

After the conclusion of the selection process, Travel Agency subcontracted with JICE in each country will collect Original Passport and Visa application form (with photo) of the successful candidates. For further information on visa arrangement, please contact the travel agency in your country directly.

The list of travel agency is attached herewith for your information.



9. The contact person of the programme



Pornpen JOY Khooharungkitcharoen (MS)
AUN Programme Officer



Office of the AUN Secretariat
Room 210 Jamjuree 1 Building,
Chulalongkorn University
Phayathai Road,
Bangkok, Thailand
Tel: + (662) 2153640/ 2153642 ext. 105
Fax: + (662) 2168808
Email: pornpen@aun-sec.org

Ratatouille too Late

Although Liguini's terrible command of his bipedalism makes me jelly on my chair, something has just been fixed in my head, and that is the Critic's concession:

Ego
"In many ways the work of a critic
is easy. We risk very little, yet
enjoy a position over those who
offer up their work and their
selves to our judgment. We thrive
on negative criticism, which is fun
to write and to read.

But, the bitter truth we critics
must face is that, in the grand
scheme of things... the average
piece of junk is probably more
meaningful than our criticism
designating it so. But there are
times when a critic truly risks
something... and that is in the
discovery and defense of the new.

The world is often unkind to new
talent, new creations. The new
needs friends.


Last night I experienced something
new, an extraordinary meal from an
singularly unexpected source.
To say that both the meal and its
maker have challenged my
preconceptions about fine cooking,
is a gross understatement-- they
have rocked me to my core.

In the past I have made no secret
of my disdain for Chef Gusteau’s
famous motto: “Anyone Can Cook”.
But I realize only now do I truly
understand what he meant. Not
everyone can become a great artist,
but a great artist can come from
anywhere.

It is difficult to imagine more
humble origins than those of the
genius now cooking at Gusteau’s,
who is, in this critic’s opinion,
nothing less than the finest Chef
in France."
--------
I watched the movie just today. -_-