Driven by the (Non-) Inspiration of Math: My Own Reality Check and Realization

These dreams go on when I close my eyes.
Every second of the night, I live another life.
These dreams that sleep when it's cold outside
Every moment I'm awake, the further I'm away.

-- Heart, These Dreams

I really admire those who already have plans for their future. Not that I don't have my own, but it's inspiring and encouraging to know that there are some people who actually have their plans laid out in an early stage of their life. For example, this Education major I know have already experienced "epiphany" and have planned for his future academic career. His plans are written in his Multiply blog Driven By Inspiration of Math: The Big Picture .

It's really okay to dream big.... as Vicky Morales always say in her Saturday program, "libre ang mangarap." But sometimes, pursuing that dream can mean sacrifices or heartaches along the way.

Before I went to UP, I have always wanted to be a Math teacher. It's a dream reinforced by my success in competitions as well as inspired by my Math teachers in elementary and high school. When I went to UP as a BS Math students, I held on to that dream even if I need to take BS Math just to temper the disagreement between me and my guardians - they really don't want me to take Education. I just said to them, "may ibang trabahong makukuha ang BS Math bukod sa pagtuturo."

Needless to say, I bungled my attempt to finish my degree on time - it took me n years to do it (guess what the value of n is..., it's not a sufficiently large natural number, though). Until now I feel that I sholud've done better so that I can fulfill my dream. Unfortunately, many circumstances hindrered me along the way, with some being my own fault and some beyond my control. But still, I wished I can ahowcase my Math teaching prowess anywhere even if I don't have the good grades to show them.

That's why I decided to apply in UP.

Which, much to my regret, is another unfortunate event.

Five years of teaching in UP made me realize that pursuing something you want to do is difficult if you pursue it by sticking yourself to something you CANNOT do. In that case, taking a degree I cannot even finish in 2 or 3 years! Admittedly, I did that just to stay in UP and teach students in the best possible way that I can - and show those who can't even teach properly that there is still hope that students can find GOOD teachers in Math in UP.

I don't care if I am only hired part time then - I was happier being a lecturer back then than being promoted and accomplished nothing. And I don' care if I really DON'T LIKE the course I'm taking! I just wanted to teach. And just to stay alive, I even blindly agreed to be reclassified so that I can teach more students - sana na lang hindi ko na lang ginawa kasi ilang beses din naman nilang gustong pigilan, eh.

Unfortunately, that decision was the BIGGEST MISTAKE I EVER DID IN MY LIFE.

I then realized - the hard way, actually - that teaching is almost NOTHING there. You need the MS and the PhD to be "mathematically mature" and to be "excellent in Math". You need to please the "powers that be" to get that degree and stay alive.

I even asked myself: what's the use of an MS or a PhD in life, hah? Are they needed to pursue a dream? Do I need to subject myself to the whims of others just to pursue my dream and what I really want to do? Are those theories REALLY needed in life? Do Mathematics also need good teachers to pursue excellence in Math? Why pressure them to be in the pure side (pardon me, it's actually a contradiction to the TRUE meaning of "pure")? Students deserve to have good teachers with BS than those pathetic ones with MS or PhD masquerading as "experts". Non-math students deserve TEACHERS, not just those "EXCELLENT" in math. Mathematicians should just concentrate shaping students who REALLY want to pursue a career in Math.

Now, after more than five months out of there, I'm still alive without the MS I should've obtained. I can still tutor, write blogs, surf the net, do chores, and search for jobs even without the MS. I also pursued what I really wanted: math teaching. So I shifted to the MA MAth program to underscore my true desire in life: teaching.

Even if I'm still reeling in regret, I'm a bit thankful that I'm no longer there. I now realize that what a good professor told me is true: "mas makakabuti 'yun sa 'yo". Yes, I think it's better to pursue my career discreetly - even if it's in the SAME University. I'll just quietly finish my MA and apply in other schools where I might be more welcome. Then I'll pursue my PhD in Math Education if my brain can still handle it - that is, if I still can't make do without Sustagen Premium or Memoplus Gold. After getting my PhD, I might get an insanity attack and go back to UP. And while pursuing my career, baka marami rin akong i-career for extra money :p I'll also continue my faith in the Lord and service in the Church, since God gives me more strength and courage to face my life than having an MS....

Inspiring as it may seem, those "dreams" of others I konw can waver my heart a little, opening up regrets I had in the past. But as I try to hang on and survive this ordeal, I will still pursue the things I really wanted to do. And with the help of God, I can sing this song to myself:

la la la la   I'll sing my song,
with my face toward the sky.
la la la la   It's my life
I'll walk on
Using my own strength
to go forward along this endless road.

a la la la   I'll sing my song,
with my face toward the sky.
la la la la   It's my life
I'll walk on
It's something that's mine alone,
so I guess I can have some confidence in myself**

At this point, I have to stop my tears from falling....




**English translation of the choruses of Tooi Kono Machi De, theme song of the first Cardcaptor Sakura movie (from http://www.animelyrics.com).

Customer "Watered" Down: a Case of Customer Disservice

While perusing my emails for the day, a post from my former student in our Yahoo! Group caught my attention and read it. The post was about her dose of poor customer service from a certain water refilling station.

Being an advocate of proper customer service and customer rights myself, I decided to share her post to all my loyal musings readers. I also decided NOT to edit out the name of the refilling station to warn other potential victims of their "service". I also need to put the last paragraph in bold face for additional emphasis :p

DISCLAIMER: the opinions expressed by the post is not in anyway reflective of gibey's own opinions and is purely of the person who made such post.

Here's her post with very minor grammar and style edits:

AQUA GEL owners - please teach your employees some manners

The title should have been suffice enough. However I'm not the type who just quietly goes away after their main branch representative calls me and tells me their owners are going to take care of this matter and that they apologize.

What their personnel in the Diliman branch did to me was very, very rude - not to mention a big no-no in the hospitality industry and other related businesses. At the end of the day, I am a customer in this particular situation (and never again will be their customer from this
day on). I know I may not always be right, but I still am a customer.

This started when I called the telephone number 925-9242 at about 1:30 PM, asking them to deliver water in the big blue container "with a faucet" as I have no idea how many gallons it is. The delivery arrived almost 4 o'clock already and the delivery guy didn't even apologize about it! I asked this person how much the water costs, which is P35, and so I asked him if he has a twenty, since the change I have wouldn't add up to thirty-five and the next smallest I have is a fifty peso bill - I just would have to give him P55 instead. Guess what he did. He was frowning and saying that he didn't bring a change.

Here's TIP#1 for all those out there who want to enter in the food / water delivery business: Please make sure your receptionist / ordertaker confirms and repeats the order, states how much the items are worth, and asks how much change will they bring. FYI, as far as I know, no one patented this process. Almost everyone does this. The reason for this is efficiency. It's just common sense. Duh.

Eventually he got two five peso coins and five tig-pipiso - from where he got it, I assumed he had asked someone who made the delivery with him. i don't understand why he had to make all the earlier excuses he made - na wala daw siyang bariya, di naman daw ako nagsabing kelangan ko ng sukli. And before he gave me the change, he just had to insult me. I told him rather nicely, "Kuya bente di ba?" Mockingly, sarcasm evident on his tone of voice, he answered "Fifty yang pera mo di ba?"

TIP#2: Listen and listen well. Didn't I just tell him I'd give him a fifty-five? Giving him a fifty-five would his life so much easier - to look for a twenty peso bill instead of fiften pesos worth of coins. When he turned his back on me and started to walk away, I called on him and told him that was very rude indeed. Rather than being apologetic, he just had to fight back.

Irritated, I went inside the house and called the same number 925-9242 and demanded an explanation as to why their delivery person was rude regarding the giving of sukli, and why the hell in the first place would they send their item without a set of sukli just in case. As my elementary teacher used to say, "sugod sa gyera nang walang bala".

Anyway, this another rude man who answered the phone interrupted me, telling me why I didn't tell him I needed them to bring a change for my money. Really. Was that remark necessary? That only made me more irritated, because being an HRIM student, and having experiences in the industry as well, I just know that was not appropriate. Besides, kindly reread TIP#1. Let me add that this hell of a person hung up on me twice. Wasn't that simply just a rude behavior?

I called them the second time and asked them what the name of their company is, since I get confused on all those water deliveries' names. He told me to just look at the sticker on the container. And being a bitch I was, I told him I didn't want to, I want him to tell me. He
was raising his voice and practically ordering me to just look it up. I was incredulous and asked him, "Why can't you tell me? You have a job there and you don't even know the name of the business?" But then again, I know the poor guy's afraid, since I was asking him for the
name of their owner, and how I can contact them. If it was a no-no to give out employer's information, he could have just apologized and calmly tell me to contact the main branch instead. There he was, half-shouting and rudely telling me that he has other customers to
attend to. BIG question is: Aren't I a customer too? A dissatisfied one at that. Tsk. tsk.

TIP#3: Never ever hung up on your customers no matter what. Never ever engage yourself in a fight with customers. Never ever raise your voice at them.

I am telling you, this situation was very poorly addressed. AQUA GEL owners and/or managers, I suggest you really do something about this, as what your main branch personnel told me you would do. I suggest you do something, especially to those rude guys who are
obviously clueless to customer relations. I suggest you invest in professional staff, who has at least some common sense in handling tough situations, humility, and respect for his work. Believe me, if your personnel do not have respect for the nature of their work, they
would easily disregard your business and that could ruin you.

FYI I know that whenever I wear my kitchen or wait staff uniform, I give the best service to the guests, not because of academic requirements. I'm truly offended because I know I deserve the best service as well, even from the most trivial of services.

If service is something that is not natural to your employees, just shut down your business. You don't deserve to be here.

Gibey's Sudden Freelance Venture: Mathematical Typestter and Copy Reader!

I don't know if I'm just having a delusional attack because of a bad cold, or I am just too desperate to get a source of income, but I decided to put up an ad in the 88DB Service Portal website (http://ph.88db.com/). All of a sudden, I want to offer my skills in typesetting and copy reading documents with mathematical equations and expressions using Mathtype/Equation Editor and LaTeX.

The idea of offering my service in helping those having difficulty typing things with equations and any mathematical symbol just popped up while nursing my bad cold I have since Monday. Because of boredom I suddenly went to my suking internet shop to just download anime and look for possible job opening, but the thought of being a freelance Math typesetter crossed my mind when I visited the 88DB website and read ads offering services by freelancers. Thus, I decided to sign up in the website and put up this ad:

Having trouble with your documents involving Math symbols and equations?

Let someone help you typeset, copyread, or proofread your papers that involve mathematical equations, formulae, or expressions, at reasonable rates!

Also ideal for teachers who have difficulty typing their Math exams and Math textbook authors who want their manuscripts typed with equations in them.

Also offering typesetting using basic LaTeX and copyreading/editing LaTeX codes (for student papers and teacher documents only).

This service will be initially available within Metro Manila.

For inquiries, please contact Mr. Gilbert Joseph Abueg at 09159083521 or e-mail gjnabueg@yahoo.com.

NOTE: Mr. Abueg has taught college Mathematics in the University of the Philippines-Diliman for 5 years (June 2003- May 2008) and currently finishing his Master of Arts degree in Mathematics, also in UP Diliman. He also has 2 years experience in proofreading math textbooks and typestting equations for textbooks using Mathtype in a local publishing company (2002-2003), and has used LaTeX for 3 years while teaching.

I don't know if this will really work, especially that there are other people offering proofreading services ( I read many of them in the 88DB website). I just thought that my service is a different thing because it involves two things I like: mathematics and typesetting things with math.

Good luck to my freelance "career" :p

Misinformation Rank One: UP's Place in the 2008 University Rankings

While I was composing my blog You've Got (Misinformation) Mail: on the China Milk Scare and the Bar Code, I remembered reading a mail from UP (via its all-faculty account which I was subscribed to) about its stand on UP's supposed "ranking" among 500 other universities in the world as conducted by Times Higher Education Supplement in collaboration with Quacquarelli Symonds (THES-QS). According to THES-QS as reported by the ABS-CBN News website (http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/10/13/08/ateneo-rise-2008-qs-world-university-rankings), UP's rank rose from 398 to 276, while the Ateneo de Manila University rose from rank 451 to 254 this year.

No, not that I can't accept that the Ateneo ranked higher than UP (which is partly true :p). What I just found out today from the UP System website that UP gave an official comment and stand about the National University's "ranking" among THES-QS's top universities in 2008. Here's the article on the UP website underscoring UP's stand on the issue:

UP did not participate in the THES-QS university rankings
Friday, October 17, 2008
From http://www.up.edu.ph/features.php?i=94


In the 2008 university rankings recently released by the Times Higher Education Supplement (THES) and Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), the University of the Philippines rose from 398 in 2007 to 276 this year. Ateneo de Manila University rose from 401-500 to 254. De La Salle University was ranked 415th and the University of Santo Tomas was ranked 470th.

This is the third year that such a survey has been conducted and its results given prominence by local dailies. But according to UP Vice President for Public Affairs Cristina Pantoja Hidalgo, UP has never agreed to participate in this survey. In fact, this year, President Emerlinda R. Roman did not even receive an invitation to be a part of it. Nor did she receive any questionnaire to answer.

What she did receive was an email message from QS Asia Regional Director (Asia Pacific), Mandy Mok, informing her that UP had “gone up in the rankings” for 2008. The email also contained an invitation to buy “an attractive package” from THES-QS. The “package price,” which includes a banner on topuniversities.com, a full page full color ad in Top Universities Guide 2009, and a booth at Top Universities Fair 2009, amounts to $48,930.

Since UP was not invited to participate and therefore had not provided any data, UP officials do not know where and how the figures were obtained on which the ranking was based, Hidalgo said.

“UP can hardly be expected to spend more than 2 million pesos on publicity for itself involving a survey conducted by an organization that refuses to divulge where it obtains its data,” she added.

In 2007, UP was invited to participate in the survey, but when THES-QS refused to explain where it obtained the data used to determine UP’s rank in the 2006 survey, university officials decided not to accept the invitation to be part of the 2007 survey. In 2006, UP was ranked No. 299, and Ateneo was ranked No. 500.

UP wrote THES-QS in July 2007, informing them of UP’s decision not to be a part of the survey; and again in September 2007, requesting the organization to respect UP’s decision. In response, research assistant Saad Shabir wrote back saying that if it did not receive the information it would be “forced to use last year’s data or some form of average.”

Surveys and rankings obviously have their usefulness. But, as the National University—status officially granted to it with its new Charter on its centennial year—UP feels that before it agrees to participate in such an exercise, it must carefully examine the indices by which it is to be evaluated. It also needs to be convinced about the reliability of the methodology used in the exercise.

The THES-QS ranking is supposedly meant to serve as “the definitive guide to universities around the world which truly excel.” In evaluating institutions it computes half of the index based on its reputation as perceived by academics (peer review 40%) and global employers (recruiter review 10%). Since it does not specify who are surveyed or what questions are asked, the methodology is problematic.

In an earlier statement released in August this year, and carried by several national dailies, UP said: “Even peers require standardized input data to review. But according to the International Ranking Systems for Universities and Institutions: A Critical Appraisal, published by BioMed Central, the Times simply asks 190,000 ‘experts’ to list what they regard as the top 30 universities in their field of expertise without providing input data on any performance indicators (http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7015/5/30). Moreover, the survey response rate among selected experts was found to be below 1%. In other words, on the basis of possible selection biases alone, the validity of the measurement is shaky.” (See Panao, “Only Two RP Universities Made It…” UP Newsletter, August 2007, p. 5.)

According to the statement, the other half of the index is based on such indicators as student-to faculty ratio, the number of foreign faculty and foreign students in the university, and the number of citations in internationally accredited publications. “Data for these indicators depend on the information that participating institutions submit. An institution’s index may be easily distorted if it fails to submit data for the pertinent indicators, or if it chooses not to participate.”

Hara, hara, hara, another misinformation for everyone especially the UP community.... And to think that many media outfits - major ones at that - picked up the story. for sure many have either been disillusioned by UP's big jump in the rankings, or has made some *tsk tsk* because despite of the increase, Ateneo managed to "overtake" UP in the rankings (in which I can say, "I can't believe it").

I am also at a loss as to why THES-QS still included UP in the 2008 rankings despite its signification (thank you CRS for the new word :p) to withdraw from the survey. What benefit will THES-QS get from UP's continued inclusion in its surveys?

I don't know if UP sent their comment to those media companies who bannered the story. I have yet to read one or hear one from those media companies. I just hope that the issue has been rectified so that UP students and alumni will not be deceived by questionable information gathered and supplied by a supposedly "respectable" institution like THES-QS.


Notes:

1. Another article reiterated UP's stand on another questionable THES-QS ranking made in 2007. For details, read the article Only two RP universities made it to the world’s 500 best; but must the rankings be taken seriously? on http://www.up.edu.ph/features.php?i=87

2. To see the actual "rankings" mentioned here, visit the QS Top Universities website, http://www.topuniversities.com/.

Interestingly enough, a certain Professor Judith Kinnear, the Vice Chancellor of Massey University, testified that "(The THE - QS Rankings is a) wonderful external acknowledgement of several university attributes, including the quality of its research, research training, teaching and employability." Oh, really? :p

Gibey's Extensive Anime Study episode 2: Currently Watched Ongoing Anime OP Fest

To give everyone an idea on what anime I'm currently watching, here are the OP sequences of my current anime fixes:

Naruto Shippuuden
Production: Studio Pierrot
Latest Episode: 083


To Aru Majutsu no Index
Production: J.C. Staff
Latest Episode: 06


Yozakura Quartet
Production: NOMAD
Latest Episode: 06


Kuroshitsuji
Production: A-1 Pictures
Latest Episode Watched: 04


Toradora!
Production: GENCO and J.C. Staff
Latest Episode: 06


Nodame Cantabile: Paris-hen
Second Season of Nodame Cantabile
Production: GENCO and J.C. Staff
Latest Episode: 05


Clannad ~After Story~
Second Season of Clannad
Production: Kyoto Animation
Latest Episode: 06


Kannagi: Crazy Shrine Maidens
Production: A-1 Pictures
Latest Episode: 06


Akane-iro ni Somaru Saka
Production: TNK
Latest Episode: 06

You've Got (Misinformation) Mail: on the China Milk Scare and the UPC

It is of no surprise that many of us receive forwarded e-mails that are supposed to give us "valuable" information about things that supposedly matter. They sometimes disguise as something of concern to everyone, especially when there's some really serious issues going on around the country or internationally. It turns out that, when examined or verified carefully, these e-mails turn out to be grand hoaxes or ill-conceived products of the imagination. Unfortunately, some of those messages actually give uneasiness or even panic to those who read them, and what make things worst is that they spread them like SARS to everyone in their address book.

One of the issues used by a certain forwarded e-mail I received is the China milk scare that gave everyone panic, paranoia, and a new word in our technical vocabulary: melamine. I might just have erased it because of how it was composed, but I got concerned with the contents and a possible misunderstanding it can bring to others. Here's the content of the e-mail:

For your info... Dear friends , The whole world is scared of China made "black hearted goods" Can you differentiate which one is made in Taiwan or China ? Let me tell u ..... the first 3 digits of the barcode 690.691.692 is made in CHINA . Do not ever buy it for your own good . 471 is Made in Taiwan (picture is corrupted) This is our right to know, but the government and related department never educate the public, therefore we have to rescue ourselves. Nowadays, Chinese businessmen know that consumers do not prefer products "made in china", so they won't show us which is made from which country. However, you may now refer to the barcode, if the first 3 digits is 690-692 then it is made in China 00~09 - USA & CANADA 30~37 - FRANCE 40~44 - GERMANY 49 - JAPAN 50 - UK

Well, if you received this e-mail and didn't really care verifying the contents, it would be pushing-the-panic-and-forward-button time for you. Your paranoia on milk and milk-based products would not be just from ignoring products with Chinese characters on them (which do NOT really tell you that it was really made in China - baka sa Binondo lang gawa 'yun...) or those marked Made in China. You might see yourself peeking at those bar codes and make a fool out of yourself.

Now, what is the TRUTH behind the bar code thing? According to the website of GS1, an international organization which has a system of standards that is "the most widely used supply chain standards system in the world", the international standard prefixes used for bar codes "do not provide identification of country of origin for a given product. They simply provide number capacity to different countries for assignment from that location to companies who apply. Those companies in turn may manufacture products anywhere in the world." For instance, a product with barcode prefix 690 does NOT indicate that it was MADE in China - it only indicates that China is the country that ISSUED the bar code. So, a company may be based in UK (prefix 50), but its products might actually be imported from China. By the way, the word "bar code" is already a passe phrase - the term used is actually the Universal Product Code (UPC).

Accuracy of information is important when dealing with serious concerns, so it's best that we verify the information passed to us, or check the reliability of the source of the information. Believing dubious information right away will just give us unnecessary worries or headaches.

P.S. To know more about GS1, the website is http://www.gs1.org/. FYI, the Philippines is a member of GS1 and the Philippine office is located in Pasig.