The CSB Experience 4: Blazing Through the Yellows and Reds

A. SPORTS
Ever since being a frosh, I've always wished myself to at least get the chance to watch a Blazers game. The Blazers, CSB's representatives in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), always have in them the passion a drive to succeed. Some of my friends are athletes and I could tell that being a school athlete is not all fun and games for these people.

The men's basketball team in particular have had those rough days in the road especially back in '07 when a scandal involving one fo the players really took a toll on the team's performance in the NCAA. CSB's saving grace at the time was having being the over-all champion in the league for several consecutive seasons but nonetheless, much has to be done to bring back the glory to the men's basketball team.

I've always been hopeful, even now. I have indeed seen the improvements made especially with Coach del Rosario at the helm for the past few seasons. Added plus are the performances of the other athletes in other sports division which fellow benildeans should also recognize. Although it's going to be quite long before we're going to be in the top 3 on NCAA men's basketball, we should consider all the efforts made by the team with the small but considerably big gains they're getting.

B. POLITICS

As Benildean sports is very complicated, it is not as complicated as the going ins with Benildean politics.  I have, through news reported in The Benildean, heard of reports of officers resigning from the Student Council (SC) leaving, student apathy, leadership crises, suspensions, among others.

During election season, I made it a point to take part on voting candidates which I believe in can do the change we, students, want to see, changes that benefits us, changes that we should already be feeling by the middle of every school year. One issue I'm having during the campaign period is that there have been little efforts for candidates and/or their respective political parties to make us SDA students care. The Main campus has long been the center of political life in CSB and most of the political events: debates, etc. have been held mostly there so obviously students who don't exactly have classes in Main hardly feel the election craze (except probably frosh students who pick their own representative in a separate electoral exercise during the first term). I don't know if this is also the case for students in the AKIC, i've yet to ask someone from there if they get to feel it either.

A few suggestions which I think should benefit every student in the college:

1. Make the electoral campaign go door-to-door as much as possible.
2. Have the school electoral debate shown simultaneously on TV sets in SDA and AKIC (especially the one hanging there at the 12th floor cafeteria) for the convenience of the students there, especially during Wednesday C-Break.
3. Have the debate done on every campus' main gathering place. Main has Plaza V as AKIC has the Halles de Rheims as SDA has the Caf (Amphi is nice but the SDA Caf's can attract a larger audience).

I have heard that during the last election, the two main parties (which fortunately stayed intact this school year) had finally took the effort to promote their candidates at the SDA Amphitheater however I don't think awareness were that strong among the students about the election itself, even I myself was unaware about the election that took place last year third term and that was the only time I was unable to vote for anyone (although I initially didn't know any of the candidates for the past two elections nor their ). At least now, we have Partido Ka-Isa and Partido Bagong Benilde as CSB's counterpart to DLSU Manila's Republican-slash-Demorat-esque Tapat and Santugon.

As far as student apathy is concerned, it's a result of the ineffectiveness of past SC administrations for not being able to push through with most of the changes the elected few promised to the students.

But knowing that since last year there were at least efforts to have the SC in the near future become a true representative to the voice of the Benildean student body, I am hopeful that such will truly come into fruition for the long-term.