The UP Parser

By Carlos Miguel Lasa [http://carlooos.i.ph]

The UP Association of Computer Science Majors celebrated their 22nd Anniversary Week last August 26 to September 2, 2005. The celebration was dubbed “SEXY++: CURSOR WEEK 2005� and it was one action-packed week for the 22 year-old organization.

Film showing
The festivities kicked off on August 26 with a free film showing of the film “Revolution OS� at the Beta Epsilon AVR, which told the story of the Linux OS and the Open Source software revolution. The celebration was opened with a presentation, with Ms. Riza Batista delivering the opening remarks in behalf of the department. CS students were treated to snacks and drinks after the film showing.

Sports galore
The following day, August 27, the events continued at the Park 9 Covered Court along Katipunan Road, where the members of the organization battled against each other in the annual Sportsfest. Four teams composed of applicants, alumni and members faced off in various sports and games, including basketball, volleyball, tug-of-war, and the vice relay. The winner of the sportsfest was the team composed of the Activities, Finance and Information & Public Relations Committees of the organization.

Art and technology united
The next event for CURSOR unfolded on Monday at the NEC Seminar Room, where “The Arte Movement� was held. This event was a digital art awareness campaign aiming to educate people about this field of computer science. The seminars were spread over two days, tackling the various aspects of digital art, and were open to the public.

Along with the “@rte Movement�, the exhibit of “@rte Attack� was also launched. This event was a digital art and photography contest open to all university students in Metro Manila. Budding artists and photographers sent in their entries over a period of two months, and the artwork of the finalists were exhibited in the 2nd Floor Lobby of Melchor Hall for the duration of the week.

House building outreach
On August 31, CURSOR went to the slums along Congressional Avenue in Quezon City as part of an outreach project in partnership with UP Gawad Kalinga. Gawad Kalinga is a nationwide program which aims to develop communities for Filipinos who have less in life. Members and applicants of the organization were baked under the heat of the sun as they performed various tasks to be able to build homes for the poor. Some had to dig soil while others carried hollow blocks, and although it was tiring, at the end of the day it was all worth it.

Programming 101
The following day, CURSOR shifted its focus to high school students with the Junior Programming Conference, an event aiming to educate high school students about computer science while testing their programming capabilities as well. The day started at the NEC AVR, where students from across Metro Manila listened to various talks and watched presentations detailing the various aspects of computer science. One guest speaker was Mr. Reuben Ravago, and he explained a little bit of start-up and freelancing in the field.

In the afternoon, the students battled it out in the computer labs of Melchor Hall in the programming competition of the JPC. They were given several problems to solve, and they could use any programming language of their choice. In the end, the team from St. Stephen’s High School won.

Par-tay!
To end the festivities, CURSOR capped off it’s anniversary week with a party called “Double Vision� held at Gweilo’s in Eastwood City, Libis. Members, alumni and friends of the organization filled up the venue, and partied till the break of dawn. Aside from the usual dinner and dancing, the program featured a lot of other things.

The UP CURSOR Membership Card was launched, featuring a variety of promos and freebies from selected establishments across the metro. Winners of the “@rte Attack� were also awarded on that night, and they received cash prizes, scanners and printers. Aside from those, a concert was also held featuring several bands including Stonefree, Radioactive Sago Project, Giniling Festival, and Up Dharma Down.