Of Japanese Animation and International Relations.

I was quite a "fact-and-trivia-addict" when I was kid. I've tried to learn (memorize?) all sorts of stuff from Greek mythology, to the then 151 Pokemon. When a category of facts piques my interest, I try to come up with a list of all things related to that category and start memorizing them. That was the time I started to get interested with world geography and Japanese anime.

As I grew older, I found out that animes are more than just cartoons intended for kids. They, more often than not, tell some pretty serious stories, that kids will most likely ignore (since they will be pretty busy looking at the colorful moving pictures).

One common theme that Japanese animators like to explore is international relations. An example is the Gundam series which, although set in a futuristic and sci-fi Earth and space, greatly deal with how our world's leaders make mistakes, which often lead to "misunderstandings" of global proportions. (I even recommended this series to a friend who teaches the subject). Other known titles which has recurring themes related to international relations include Naruto, Code Geass and Fushigi Yuugi.

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(In this picture, from top left clockwise: England, Russia, France, China, and America. Click Picture for Source)

One day, as I was searching for something to make me laugh, I came across "Hetalia: Axis Powers" (later in renamed as "Hetalia: World Powers"). The anime comically presents world history and current events through characters which personify the countries of the world. While it is basically a comedy, Hetalia (and double checking over the net) helped me discover pretty surprising facts, such as the existence of a self-proclaimed independent mircronation called "Sealand".

I recommend this title to anyone who wants to take a break and just laugh at how the world was and is. (I end this post with a link to a Hetalia episode about Russia and his sisters, Ukraine and Belarus)

IMHO: UP College of Law should improve its cellphone signal reception

Some areas at the College of Law such as the first floor library, some classrooms at the 2nd floor and the Malcolm theater are considered dead zones.

Why does the UP College of Law have poor cellphone signal reception inside its halls?

There are websites found in the internet, thanks to Google, that tell the searchers the answers.


Among these, I find having thick walls and old buildings as the possible reasons for this problem. Imagine if the building is made of materials in 1950s when the UP College of Law was built in Diliman after being transferred from Manila, it must be really old and may contain "rebar" which interferes with the signal. There may also be other materials found in the concrete which may not facilitate receiving signal from one's service provider. However, found online too are solutions to this problem such as installing signal boosters or antenna at the college.


In my humble opinion, we need to install these facilities in the College because the advantages of having signal in the classrooms outweigh the disadvantages (recall that in the UP College of Engineering, two classes on different dates were robbed while the professors were giving their lectures). If the professors want their students to turn off their phones and not check them during class, they just have to tell them to do so. Being able to make emergency calls or send emergency texts are, for me, non-negotiable in colleges. Another reason why I want to have signal inside Malcom--during summer internship at the Office of Legal Aid, I had to go out of the office/building or place my cellphone at the windowsill so that I can receive texts from my clients. This was not good.

Should the Building Committee now include this in their next agenda? Will the students agree to improving the signal reception at the college? Or to ask the better question, will the Dean and the professors agree to it? Why or why not?

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Trivia: Do you know that places where there are no signal hurt your phone's battery?


Don't be surprised if your battery depletes faster inside Malcolm Hall!

Turn off your phone in areas with no reception (such as a subway or remote area) or in a roaming area, since constantly searching for service depletes the battery fairly quickly. Some phones have an automatic power save feature, but it takes about 30 minutes with no service to kick in. By then, much battery power has been used.


Paulyn Duman
Blog #2


Other blogs:
IMHO: Digitized sins are forgiven
IMHO: UP College of Law should improve its cellphone signal reception
IMHO: Media diet is good for students and teachers