When I got to taking classes full-time at Westwood, I was heavily under the influence of this class I took at UC-Santa Cruz called "Science as Cultural Practice." It was stashed in a department called the History of Consciousness.
History in the History of Consciousness program wasn't really history in the sense of establishing dates, names, accomplishments, we just went over different topics over different time periods and more remarkably across different borders and regions.
Our reading material included a random assortment of the Rule of Experts, Maps, Tricksters, and Cartographers, and Twice Dead. The topics: the artificiality inherent in cartography and the construction of maps, brain death, the masculinity embodied within the sciences.
I was 18. Technically, the language was English, but fuck if I understood most of what my professor, my TA, or my books were saying.
Still, I knew that it was very fascinating stuff. Science six years ago and science today occupies the reverence religion seemed to have in the medieval ages. In sum, no laypeople, mere civilians, homies on the block, dare question its validities, its institutional power. Scientific findings work for our purposes, namely creating new technologies. People study hard to become scientists and we laypeople, civilians, homies are in no position to challenge their opinions.
What we were doing in this class was reversing that tide (if only temporarily and in one microfractioned space of the world). We were exposing all the artificiality, the emotions, the politics inherent within science. We were exposing the human, error-laiden side of science, that which is often ignored in popular discourse.
When I got to da school, I wanted more of that type of book-learnin' and analysis.
The closest I could find to that experience was the history of science located in UCLA's history department. Without hesitation, I took up the history of science and medicine minor.
Save for my one class called Social Knowledge and Power, appropriately enough taught by a UC-Santa Cruz History of Consciousness Ph.D., we actually talked about...the History of Science and Medicine. The history of Western science and medicine.
So, it wasn't the history of the history of consciousness. It was history of businesses and patents acting as the infrastructure to white guy creativity and geniusness. It was the history of John Snow, Conrad Roentgen, Andreas Vesalius, William James. It was history of Isaac Newton, Antoine Lavoisier, Lamarck, Chuck Lyell, Chucky Darwin. Most of these topics were the classes that sunk my GPA.
A lot of this pretty interesting in their own right, but if you're really into dead white guys, their rationality, their objectivity, and the great things they accomplished in technological history, this department is quite possibly your calling in life. Not mine.
Friday
The Summer of 2005: PTSP Bayanihan in the Community and Dreams of a Future
When I first got the position of Bayanihan Director in June '05, I was all about getting us out into the community of Los Angeles. I wanted us to build community resources unlike any other organization at UCLA.
I started with the largest, most visible symbol of Filipinos in Los Angeles - SIPA or Search to Involve Pilipino Americans. We were going to volunteer with them!
Starting with their community event, SIPA Summer!
From the left to the right (and notice whose at the very left) Pens, B-Saturday, Gelatinous Jel, YT (yours truly), Dom
I honestly expected a lot more people to show up since it was a Historic Filipinotown party and they did go to the trouble of cordoning off a block.
However, I didn't want to admit to the people with me that it was a waste of time. I really hated admitting any kind of failure back then especially in the incubator ages of Bayanihan, so I guarded against that by turning this into an opportunity to survey people about community college and education.
I figured that this was the opportunity to ask local community people about their perceptions of community college. This was when and where I began to think that we could've made a part of PTSP Bayanihan into some kind of research group.
A research group staffed full of students that PTSP would recruit into our intern program, who rather than having SPEAR and SPACE methodologies spat back at them, were engaging in the process of active student-driven knowledge creation. I thought that's where the real student power would emerge: when we began to be the ones defining knowledge. Creating it. Using it...to influence current thinking and most importantly action amongst administrators, professors, and other forms of media.
I started with the largest, most visible symbol of Filipinos in Los Angeles - SIPA or Search to Involve Pilipino Americans. We were going to volunteer with them!
Starting with their community event, SIPA Summer!
From the left to the right (and notice whose at the very left) Pens, B-Saturday, Gelatinous Jel, YT (yours truly), Dom
I honestly expected a lot more people to show up since it was a Historic Filipinotown party and they did go to the trouble of cordoning off a block.
However, I didn't want to admit to the people with me that it was a waste of time. I really hated admitting any kind of failure back then especially in the incubator ages of Bayanihan, so I guarded against that by turning this into an opportunity to survey people about community college and education.
I figured that this was the opportunity to ask local community people about their perceptions of community college. This was when and where I began to think that we could've made a part of PTSP Bayanihan into some kind of research group.
A research group staffed full of students that PTSP would recruit into our intern program, who rather than having SPEAR and SPACE methodologies spat back at them, were engaging in the process of active student-driven knowledge creation. I thought that's where the real student power would emerge: when we began to be the ones defining knowledge. Creating it. Using it...to influence current thinking and most importantly action amongst administrators, professors, and other forms of media.
Thursday
Hola from a former PTSP-er!
Hello PTSP-ers! I'm Chiara Paz, PTSP alum from the Class of '03. I'm quite excited to see that this phenomenal student org is still very much alive and is continuing to create a niche for Pilipino transfer students at UCLA. Thanks to Brian for reaching out to the old timers and letting us know about this online venue.
Let's see...for starters, let me share a little bit of my Bruin background. I transferred in Fall '00 from L.A. City College and entered as a Psych major. I initially thought I'd be a clinical psychologist and tried to make Franz Hall my home. Later I realized that my calling is in education and decided to complete the Education Studies Minor & Applied Developmental Psych Minor. It made sense at that time because I planned to become a high school science teacher.
After graduation, I took the very popular "year off" to mull over life goals, prepare for various tests like the GRE and CSET, and submit applications to different schools of education. Like any college graduate, I needed some form/source of income and that led me to holding 4 part-time jobs located in the farthest corners of Los Angeles (all of which were education-related). Upon realizing that my paychecks were being funneled to my Chevron gas card due to the enormous amount of driving I had to do and that I needed some form of health coverage, I began to search for one full-time job. That's when I landed a position as a Student Affairs Officer in the UCLA Graduate School of Education & Information Studies (GSE&IS). 'Twas a credential counselor position which allowed me to work vicariously with teacher education graduate students. Consequently, my "year off" turned into two & a half years off. And my goal of becoming a teacher shifted to a goal of becoming a university professor.
In Fall '05, I began the M.A. program in Higher Education & Organizational Change at UCLA while still working full-time in GSE&IS. [One tip to future UCLA employees: the university pays for 2/3 of your tuition if you're admitted to any academic program on campus.] I finished my M.A. in '07 and I'm now enrolled in that school across town, the name of which true Bruins dare not mention here. I'm in my 2nd year in the Ph.D. program in Urban Education, with a concentration in Higher Ed. [Another tip: the school across town offers full funding for 4 years. This means that tuition is covered and students receive a monthly stipend for living expenses.]
All that being said, I hope I can be a resource for you as you go through the ropes of being an undergrad and as you ponder post-graduation objectives. Even though I had an inkling of what I wanted to do after my B.A., I certainly didn't have a straightforward path that led to my current graduate program. There were many twists, U-turns, 3-point turns, somersaults, and most inevitably emotional rollercoasters too. These twists and turns still take place until today as I figure out my dissertation topic and what I want to do with a Ph.D. in education. I'd be happy to chit chat with you about curiosities you might have about life after UCLA or also possibly connect you with the other old PTSP fogeys who are in specific fields you intend to pursue. There are a handful of other alums from '03 and back who are still in the area and who may be able to share their insights too.
I'm always on e-mail (chiara.paz@gmail.com) and look forward to hearing from you.
Wednesday
UC Cuts Freshman Enrollment by 6%, 2,300 Students
But hold on...It's not that bad for people at UCLA, Berkeley, grad students, and transfer students.
UC Proposal
Not to encourage further cuts to public education, but having spent my first and second year in dorm life at UC-Santa Cruz, my friend 'Yell and I came to the conclusion that there were plenty of spaces being wasted on some utterly useless kids.
...Enrollment would not be cut at UCLA and UC Berkeley, the most popular campuses, and expansion would continue at UC Merced, the newest school, according to the plan that is to be reviewed by the UC regents next week. The other six undergraduate campuses would see some freshman reductions.
...The number of graduate students would not change under the proposal
...The number of students who transfer from community colleges would increase by about 500, or about 3%.
UC Proposal
Not to encourage further cuts to public education, but having spent my first and second year in dorm life at UC-Santa Cruz, my friend 'Yell and I came to the conclusion that there were plenty of spaces being wasted on some utterly useless kids.
PTSP Alumni Network
Hey everyone, this is Andrew Hambre (08-09 Bayanihan Coordinator). PTSP Board was just talking about the effectiveness of this blogsite and what we wanted to get out of it. After looking at the people who are involved with the site, I thought why not make this site an open space where current PTSP members and alumni's can use to share our experiences in and out of UCLA. As a UCLA student and PTSP board member, I have questions of my future and what I am going to do after college. I don't know if I want to go to graduate school right away and looking for a long term permanent job is also not what I want to do just yet. I would like to hear to stories or experiences from PTSP alums so I can get a general idea or vision of what it's like after college. I would also like to know that there is a space where I can reach out to PTSP and share my experience after college. What do you all think? I believe having the PTSP blog be an alumni network is a good idea. Dom and Brian can you somehow reach other alums and have them join the PTSP Alumni Network blog site?
Tuesday
Perception of the Importance of a College Education
There was some food for thought I came across in last month's Public Policy Institute of California Bulletin.
In other words...
The most underrepresented ethnic groups in college and in high-power influential socio-economical-political positions are more likely to believe that going to college is a key to success.
These underrepresented ethnic groups who've traditionally been thought of as any one of lazy and careless, actually believe in the value of a college education more so than people who've historically dominated the system, still do, and whose demographic is still overrepresented in the most influential parts of society.
What does that suggest?
For me it reminds me of that Everybody Hates Chris episode where Chris Rock's white Italian friend says "no matter hard I try, I just can't fail!"
In California, Latinos (84%) are far more likely than Asians (69%), blacks (63%), or whites (57%) to believe college is necessary for success in today’s work world.
Similarly, our April survey on K–12 education found that Latinos (61%) were by far the most likely racial/ethnic group to consider college preparation the most important goal of California’s K–12 public schools (31% Asians, 30% blacks, 21% whites).
Majorities in all political and demographic groups today believe that college is necessary to be successful, but this view declines as education and income levels rise, and is much lower among residents age 55 and older (57%) than residents age 18–34 (71%) or 35–54 (73%).
In other words...
The most underrepresented ethnic groups in college and in high-power influential socio-economical-political positions are more likely to believe that going to college is a key to success.
These underrepresented ethnic groups who've traditionally been thought of as any one of lazy and careless, actually believe in the value of a college education more so than people who've historically dominated the system, still do, and whose demographic is still overrepresented in the most influential parts of society.
What does that suggest?
For me it reminds me of that Everybody Hates Chris episode where Chris Rock's white Italian friend says "no matter hard I try, I just can't fail!"
Transferring and the PTSP Acronym
There is no one way to characterize my transfer experience from UC-Banana Slug to UCLA in one sentence with one emotion.
Upon typing up my application number and student ID for about the 29th time that minute, and seeing that my application was being reviewed each time, Dr. Vu Tran finally delivered me the news.
"Congratulations Brian!"
Holy shit.
My next-door dorm neighbor named 'Yell was in the room playing NBA Street 2 or something while I was checking up on my future. Once I saw that "Congratulations Brian!" at the top of the screen, any attempt to inhibit that upward-teeth-revealing crease formed by my lips was futile. Trying to hold in the smile was like the New Orleans levee system trying to stop Hurricane Katrina.
Some time later in the week, 'Yell told my other friend Joe that I was gone.
I didn't really want that to be true.
Hanging out at the dining hall, NBA Street, NFL Street, talking about the bullishtiness of everything, our [non]-experiences in the dating life, jokes and trash-talking about other people. My best buddies in my first 2 years of adult independence wouldn't be there anymore, but I guess I'd come up and visit them...and hey I'd have my family...
Little did I know at the time that the "family" I'd refer to is not the one I lived with throughout my life, but the one I formed with fellow brothers and sisters. *Hugikissiness ensues*
Then October 2004 came, Filipi-groes, I'm here. Good-bye.
Upon the first day of class, an old friend whom I will call Chiars told me to check out some other Filipino group and their welcome reception.
P-T-S-P. Wow that had to be the worst acronym I'd ever heard...definitely didn't roll off the tongue like SPACE or PREP or PIE or even PCH which at least can be referenced to a very famous highway.
But you know there was something about this organization...these people...maybe it was the fact that there was food. Maybe it was the fact that I was a transfer and well this organization dealt with transfers. Duh. Maybe it was the fact that they somehow managed to bring in all the aesthetically pleasing people together in one room. Ha. Maybe it was the fact that their Vice Chair, Dom, looked like an older computer-simulated version of the younger brother of one of my grade school classmates. Maybe it was the fact that they actually talked with me afterwards and even outside the meeting.
Even when my car wouldn't start that one afternoon after class.
Didn't know anyone, but I did know Dom and somehow he was in my cell phone directory already. Called him...The 831 area code was a reminder of the good times with 'Yell and Joe in Banana Slugland. He called a friend with a jumper cable and a car. It was all EZ like Sunday morning. Car fixed, back on my merry way.
From there began two new bro-ships, which would help spawn an intense infusion into hip-hop and hip-hop culture.
Because of this infusion, I gradually perceived the P-T-S-P acronym not as four lifeless disconnected letters, but as distinct flavorous sounds that you might start a beatbox with.
Puhhh-tssss-puhhh...Pee-tee-yess-pee
We are the only organization that has a beatbox sound as its acronym's pronunciation.
Just as hip-hop is not just a music, it's life, PTSP is not just an organization, it's life.
Me Brian J. Delas Armas. Tengo veinte cuatro anos. Born Chi-town, raised Los Angeles. Transferred from UC-Banana Slug. I graduated UC-Bruin in 2006 with a B.A. degree in anthropology and a minor in the History of Medicine and Science. Have volunteered, worked with, and derived income from nonprofits since graduation with periods of temp jobbing. Currently a grant writer, which means I like flipping and flooping the written language around and read thru tons of things every day for research purposes. Will go to graduate school for a Ph.D in cognitive and urban anthropology with interests in how we remember things, mathematics, science, and numbers in different cultures, semiotics, and the creation/destruction of public and open spaces. Beyond that, we'll see.
Upon typing up my application number and student ID for about the 29th time that minute, and seeing that my application was being reviewed each time, Dr. Vu Tran finally delivered me the news.
"Congratulations Brian!"
Holy shit.
My next-door dorm neighbor named 'Yell was in the room playing NBA Street 2 or something while I was checking up on my future. Once I saw that "Congratulations Brian!" at the top of the screen, any attempt to inhibit that upward-teeth-revealing crease formed by my lips was futile. Trying to hold in the smile was like the New Orleans levee system trying to stop Hurricane Katrina.
Some time later in the week, 'Yell told my other friend Joe that I was gone.
I didn't really want that to be true.
Hanging out at the dining hall, NBA Street, NFL Street, talking about the bullishtiness of everything, our [non]-experiences in the dating life, jokes and trash-talking about other people. My best buddies in my first 2 years of adult independence wouldn't be there anymore, but I guess I'd come up and visit them...and hey I'd have my family...
Little did I know at the time that the "family" I'd refer to is not the one I lived with throughout my life, but the one I formed with fellow brothers and sisters. *Hugikissiness ensues*
Then October 2004 came, Filipi-groes, I'm here. Good-bye.
Upon the first day of class, an old friend whom I will call Chiars told me to check out some other Filipino group and their welcome reception.
P-T-S-P. Wow that had to be the worst acronym I'd ever heard...definitely didn't roll off the tongue like SPACE or PREP or PIE or even PCH which at least can be referenced to a very famous highway.
But you know there was something about this organization...these people...maybe it was the fact that there was food. Maybe it was the fact that I was a transfer and well this organization dealt with transfers. Duh. Maybe it was the fact that they somehow managed to bring in all the aesthetically pleasing people together in one room. Ha. Maybe it was the fact that their Vice Chair, Dom, looked like an older computer-simulated version of the younger brother of one of my grade school classmates. Maybe it was the fact that they actually talked with me afterwards and even outside the meeting.
Even when my car wouldn't start that one afternoon after class.
Didn't know anyone, but I did know Dom and somehow he was in my cell phone directory already. Called him...The 831 area code was a reminder of the good times with 'Yell and Joe in Banana Slugland. He called a friend with a jumper cable and a car. It was all EZ like Sunday morning. Car fixed, back on my merry way.
From there began two new bro-ships, which would help spawn an intense infusion into hip-hop and hip-hop culture.
Because of this infusion, I gradually perceived the P-T-S-P acronym not as four lifeless disconnected letters, but as distinct flavorous sounds that you might start a beatbox with.
Puhhh-tssss-puhhh...Pee-tee-yess-pee
We are the only organization that has a beatbox sound as its acronym's pronunciation.
Just as hip-hop is not just a music, it's life, PTSP is not just an organization, it's life.
Me Brian J. Delas Armas. Tengo veinte cuatro anos. Born Chi-town, raised Los Angeles. Transferred from UC-Banana Slug. I graduated UC-Bruin in 2006 with a B.A. degree in anthropology and a minor in the History of Medicine and Science. Have volunteered, worked with, and derived income from nonprofits since graduation with periods of temp jobbing. Currently a grant writer, which means I like flipping and flooping the written language around and read thru tons of things every day for research purposes. Will go to graduate school for a Ph.D in cognitive and urban anthropology with interests in how we remember things, mathematics, science, and numbers in different cultures, semiotics, and the creation/destruction of public and open spaces. Beyond that, we'll see.
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