I read in the Inquirer that Sen. Edgardo Angara is urging Filipino scholars to return home to the Philippines. The article mentioned that he is concerned that Filipinos do not return home after they have completed their studies abroad. I think he failed to ask himself the million dollar question: "What will Filipino scholars having completed their graduate degrees in engineering, science etc. do in the Philippines?" Sell banana-que?
I know a lot of Filipinos who finished their graduate degrees abroad. They do want to go home. The main problem is that there are no positions available for them at home. They tried applying in universities or research institutions in the Philippines but nobody wants to hire them. Unfortunately, it is not always the best people who gets hired. Imagine you are a dean of a university and you finished your PhD (if you have one) at the University of Lulubalu. One day a guy who just finished a PhD at MIT applied for a teaching position. You will never hire the MIT guy because for certain, in a few months, he will have your job. So poor Filipino scholar who spent 4 years slaving for his PhD at MIT, his only option is to sell banana-que. So, off he goes back to the US.
We don't have enough high caliber and well funded research institutions to lure people back. To lure people back we should follow the example of Singapore. The National University of Singapore lures a lot of great scientists from all over the world because they have infrastructure and funding to get good people.
It's just so wrong to make a press statement about urging scholars to come home because it sounds as if they don't want to. Sen. Angara can fund more scholars to go to Japan as much as he wants but they won't come home to the Philippines after they finish their degrees either if there are no jobs for them.
In the Philippines there are limited positions available for highly trained people. The right press statement should have been "Philippine government establishing international caliber research facilities to lure Filipino scholars home".
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Herculaneum
I am a history buff. If you are a real lover of history, Herculaneum is just the thing that will make you pee in your pants.
In 79 AD, Mt. Vesuvius erupted. As most of you know, it buried Pompeii but it also buried Herculaneum. Although the buried city of Herculaneum was rediscovered first in 1738, it was largely abandoned when Pompeii was rediscovered in 1748. Archeologist preferred Pompeii because it was easier to excavate. Excavation restarted in Herculaneum only in the 20th century. This was really good (at least for you and me) because Herculaneum is a sight to behold! The excavated part is smaller than Pompeii but its preservation is exquisite. Under the modern town of Erculano, the ancient city of Herculaneum remains buried.
The picture above is a terracotta jar shop. It is so well preserved. Even the wood beams holding the jars on display are original. They found it like that. It was so exciting.
This next picture is of a house. Look at the how the wall paintings and the marble decorations are preserved. They have such grand tastes. Most of the walls are red.
This impressed me a lot. 2000 years ago, the Romans already have monuments like we have today.
When they excavated Herculanum, archeologist found it strange that there were no dead people (unlike in Pompeii). The city was deserted. They assumed that the population managed to escape. This was until archeologists excavated the docks. There they found a lot of dead bodies. Most of the dead are localized in one room. The people of Herculanum were trying to escape by boat. Some did not make it.
View Larger Map
Herculaneum Herculanum Pompeii Pompei Erculano Mt Vesuvius Campania
In 79 AD, Mt. Vesuvius erupted. As most of you know, it buried Pompeii but it also buried Herculaneum. Although the buried city of Herculaneum was rediscovered first in 1738, it was largely abandoned when Pompeii was rediscovered in 1748. Archeologist preferred Pompeii because it was easier to excavate. Excavation restarted in Herculaneum only in the 20th century. This was really good (at least for you and me) because Herculaneum is a sight to behold! The excavated part is smaller than Pompeii but its preservation is exquisite. Under the modern town of Erculano, the ancient city of Herculaneum remains buried.
The picture above is a terracotta jar shop. It is so well preserved. Even the wood beams holding the jars on display are original. They found it like that. It was so exciting.
This next picture is of a house. Look at the how the wall paintings and the marble decorations are preserved. They have such grand tastes. Most of the walls are red.
This impressed me a lot. 2000 years ago, the Romans already have monuments like we have today.
When they excavated Herculanum, archeologist found it strange that there were no dead people (unlike in Pompeii). The city was deserted. They assumed that the population managed to escape. This was until archeologists excavated the docks. There they found a lot of dead bodies. Most of the dead are localized in one room. The people of Herculanum were trying to escape by boat. Some did not make it.View Larger Map
Herculaneum Herculanum Pompeii Pompei Erculano Mt Vesuvius Campania
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Oh no not again! Not so soon!
Severe Weather Bulletin Number FOUR
Tropical Cyclone Warning: TYPHOON "PEPENG" (PARMA)
Issued at 11:00 a.m., Thursday, 01 October 2009
Information and pictures from PAGASA .
PAGASA, typhoon, Pepeng, Parma, Philippines
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