Miracles

A little girl went to her bedroom and pulled a glass of jelly jar from its hiding place in the closet. She poured the change out on the floor and counted it carefully. Three times, even. The total had to be exactly perfect. No chance here for mistakes.

Carefully placing the coins back in the jar and twisting on the cap, she slipped out the back door and made her way 6 blocks to the Rexall Drug Store with the big red Indian Chief sign above the door.

She waited patiently for the pharmacist to give her some attention but he was too busy at this moment. Tess twisted her feet to make a scuffing noise. Nothing. She
cleared her throat with the most disgusting sound she could muster. No good. Finally she took a quarter from her jar and banged it on the glass counter. That did it!

"And what do you want?" the pharmacist asked in an annoyed tone of voice. I'm talking to my brother from Chicago whom I haven't seen in ages," he said without waiting for a reply to his question.

"Well, I want to talk to you about my brother," Tess answered back in the same annoyed tone. "He's really, really sick... and I want to buy a miracle!"

" I beg your pardon?" said the pharmacist.

" His name is Andrew and he has something bad growing inside his head and my Daddy says only a miracle can save him now. So how much does a miracle cost?"

"We don't sell miracles here, little girl. I'm sorry but I can't help you," the pharmacist said, softening a little.

"Listen, I have the money to pay for it. If it isn't enough, I will get the rest. Just tell me how much it costs."

The pharmacist's brother was a well dressed man. He stooped down and asked the little girl, "What kind of a miracle does your brother need?"

" I don't know," Tess replied with her eyes welling up. I just know he's really sick and Mommy says he needs an operation. But my Daddy can't pay for it, so I want to use my money."

" How much do you have?" asked the man from Chicago.

"One dollar and eleven cents," Tess answered barely audibly. "And it's all the money I have, but I can get some more if I need to."

"Well, what a coincidence," smiled the man. "A dollar and eleven cents---the exact price of a miracle for little brothers. "

He took her money in one hand and with the other hand he grasped her mitten and said "Take me to where you live. I want to see your brother and meet your parents. Let's
see if I have the miracle you need."

That well dressed man was Dr. Carlton Armstrong, a surgeon, specializing in neuro-surgery. The operation was completed free of charge and it wasn't long until Andrew was home again and doing well.

Mom and Dad were happily talking about the chain of events that had led them to this place. That surgery," her Mom whispered. "was a real miracle. I wonder how much it would have cost?"

Tess smiled. She knew exactly how much a miracle cost... one dollar and eleven cents plus the faith of a little child..

In our lives, we never know how many miracles we will need.. A miracle is not the suspension of natural law, but the operation of a higher law..

MY OATH TO YOU...

When you are sad.....I will dry your tears.

When you are scared.....I will comfort your fears.

When you are worried.....I will give you hope.

When you are confused. I will help you cope.

And when you are lost....And can't see the light, I shall be

your beacon.....Shining ever so bright.

This is my oath.....I pledge till the end.

Why you may ask?.Because you're my friend.
Signed: GOD

I Don't Want to Go Home...

I don't want to go home.
I want to go anywhere...
But please not just home.
Let me go everywhere...

But don't ask me to go home...

There's too much pain in there.
Too much chaos.
Hurting sounds...
Piercing words.

Please don't let me go there...

Nobody hears anymore.
Nobody cares.

© Claudine F. Claudio

Pop Culture in Third World Countries

Pop Culture in Third World Countries
Claudio, Claudine F.
Editorial & Column Writing
Prof. Jeanie Derillo


“What is the difference between unethical and ethical advertising? Unethical advertising uses falsehoods to deceive the public; ethical advertising uses truth to deceive the public.”
~Vilhjalmur Stefansson

I thought advertising agencies is supposed to be run by creative people? By people acquiring extraordinary imagination and creativity? By people with visionary skills to promote something unknown to popularity? I thought Advertising is supposed to be an art? But how could art bring about deception and sense of superficiality to people?

Condoms. Liquors. Women. Passion. Lust. Safe Sex.

Putting the word “safe” before sex is one heinous thing to do. Sex has become something that is “common” to the world. It has become “okay”. The supposedly sacred word had been degraded to a meaning too cheap and dirty. The supposedly gift from God to married couples has now been tainted. It can now be bought from filthy bars and clubs. It's as if it has become some pirated film bought on sidewalks.

Now, almost the whole world is starting to have a bent notion about sex. And what's saddening is that “Thirld World Countries” who are supposed to strive for development, is part of this world. The countries who are supposed to be focusing to their growth are now being pulled back down to immaturity because of pop culture. Just the Philippines for an instance. Filipinos were once the most conservative and religious people in the world. Now that we have been contaminated with popular culture produced mostly by the west, our people's definition was now changed into hospitable beings. Prostitutes.

Popular culture has deceived us through the power of media. Before we are the ones who create the demands. Now advertising does it for us. We no longer have the power to control which and which are not our needs. It's now them who tell us. So tell me, how could the third world countries rise up on their feet if popular culture would bombard us with false needs and require our stupidity to satisfy them?

“Advertisers constantly invent cures to which there is no disease.” ~Author Unknown

Such a mess, these ways of the world. Modern advertisements has turned into the devil who tempted Jesus on the mountain. And we are no Jesus. We are trying so hard to transform the rock into bread and jumped off from the top of the mountain just to find out that we are powerless and the devil who has seen would leave us there bloody and helpless.

The Real Problem in Enrolment

The Real Problem in Enrolment
Editorial & Column Writing



This semester, the registrar’s office established a new procedure for the enrollment. They assigned advisers for every department to guide students of what and what not subjects to take. There are different enrolment schedule assigned for every year level. Adamsonians were required to bring their true copy of grades to be presented to the adviser. Then after listing down your choices of subjects for the semester, you queue up for the adviser’s lane on your department office. Once he/she has approved your enrolment form you can now encode your subjects to the computer laboratory assigned to your college. It may seem quite easy for students belonging in a block section. Because regular students belonging in free sections and irregular students found this new enrolment setup more complicated than before.

If Adamson University registrar thinks this previous enrolment eased the burden of enrollees, most Adamsonians particularly the non-block and irregular students, think otherwise. For the last 4 years, Adamsonians has never experienced a completely hassle-free enrolment. It usually takes up half a day for a student to have his/her subjects encoded. Worse, it could even consume a whole day if some computer laboratory breaks down. Or when the computer said that a subject is not credited yet for course shifters (even when you have already undergone the creditation process), they had to follow up their creditation form to be able to take the requisite subject. It’s hard work to run around the university lining up on queues to do something you have already done before. Worst, is when you are suggested to come back the next day or the next week if some errors occurred on your assessment form or it’s not your schedule yet to enroll. This could be really a pain the butt for students who travel all the way from their provinces just to enroll for the semester.

There is absolutely nothing wrong in implementing new procedures if the intention is to ease a process. It is good to know that the registrar tries hard to come up with a more effective way for enrolment. But the problem is they’re looking at the wrong side of the problem. There is actually no problem with the procedures whether new or not. The problem is in the computer system. It isn’t updated regularly and most of them are old. Speed is also a major problem with the computers. So whatever the procedure may be if the medium used isn’t taken care of properly, change and convenience could be impossible to achieve.


“If you don't like something change it; if you can't change it, change the way you think about it”.
~Mary Engelbreit