Changing Interest Among Seniors

 

In these times, for the newly retired, there are probably a lot of things ushered in by this phenomenon called retirement.  For those who have lived their professional lives the way I have –  which was work myself to death with really nothing much to show for it – photography (or simply pictorial documentation of very personal experiences)  has become an  interesting alternative to being very busy doing nothing fantastically serious in retirement.  As for me personally, I’ve always been interested in photography, but more so now because of my intention to go back to science journalism.  Use of pictures in such activity is not only useful and helpful, but absolutely necessary.

In the past, I’ve owned many different cameras.  After Graduate School, for example, I even had a complete set, including an expensive camera bag, tripod, and a set of filters and teleconverters, macro-zoom and telephoto lenses, and a host of others.  I also had compact cameras. 

My first camera was a Kodak box camera, using a 120 film size.  I also have used Rolleiflex and Yashica, large-format (620 film size) cameras, and the portrait camera called Bellows camera (this was really old stuff).  I enjoyed my film cameras, and film photography.   But I found working in the darkroom and loading exposed film in the developing tank rather difficult. 

When the bag, weighing on the average something like more than 5 kilos, became too heavy to carry around everyday,  and considering that I had heart condition that was becoming more serious, I knew I had to let go of the paraphernalia.  I had to sell my camera system just before I ended up in the Philippine Heart Center.

I wasn’t a particularly good photographer, but I did enjoy film photography immensely.  My training in communication  made me believe in no uncertain terms that photography was a means of effective communication rather than merely a form of artistic expression.  The cameras that I used then were simple and easy to operate.  And when I set the aperture, for example, at a specific opening, I made the corresponding adjustment in shutter release speed, and adjust the focusing ring at the same time in order to achieve some appropriate picture that expressed the idea I wanted to communicate.  The process was very simple and straight forward.   And I knew exactly how to adjust my camera in order to get that mood shot everyone have always wanted to take under very low ambient light. 

Using the digital camera today is different.  It’s much more complicated than I am able to handle comfortably, and it requires endless buttons to press.  And yet, everything is supposed to automatically adjust.  Here lies a paradox: my digital camera automatically operates within the law of averages (it adjusts automatically based on internal readings and calculations regarding values of a number of operations), and yet I really have to make the necessary physical adjustments in order to achieve an excellent exposure.   Trouble is, sometimes the piece of machine wins.

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If you ask me, I prefer film over a microchip any time.  Then again, film photography has become very, very expensive … and Jurassic, although still challenging.   And all of my friends have been won over to digital photography.  I, too, have been into it but I’m not a serious photographer.  I just need to take pictures of what I write about and for personal purposes.  My wife, Jegs, is the better photographer although when she was starting out I usually coached her.   She’s more of the photographer-artist, while I’m the photographer-communicator.  Let’s just leave it at that. 

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Since I recovered from my heart by-pass operation in 1997, I’ve maintained one compact camera at a time.  Initially, I maintained small (non-SLR) film cameras, but later on I shifted to compact digitals because film cameras were becoming more scarce and even eased out of the market.  My last compact digital was supposed to be top of the line in its class when I bought it, but the top of the line in the same class today is way up front, both in terms of mechanisms and cost.  There’s a very powerful compact digital that’s high speed (which I’ve been looking for) but it’s still not available in the Philippines.

The other day, I bought myself a new compact unit, a bit larger than the usual compact model, and according to technical reviews is top in its class (I refer to it as low-end single-lens reflex).  It has an f2.8, 25-600mm Leica lens, capable of 10fps burst (you probably are familiar with this: Panasonic’s FZ200).  Rather fast, which I like because I always want to freeze actions into stills.  While I love this camera, I have problems with it.  It has far too many buttons to push and too many adjustments to make, which is, of course, what digital cameras are.  I’m confused with this camera.  It’ll take a bit more time to master the operations of this machine, but I’ll get there.

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In the last so many weeks, by the way, I’ve seen new retirees sporting new paraphernalia – camera bags hanging down their shoulders.  Well, some of those bags probably contain things like wallets and SC cards for maintenance medicines and grocery goods.  In any case, it seems that most new male retirees these days are into photography and practically all of them have camera bags hanging down their shoulders.  Some smaller cameras and gadgets like cell phones are conveniently stored in side pockets or small hand bags.

Yes, it’s nice seeing both young and seniors apparently hooked in photography.  Our small organization, Kayvan Networks Specialist (Jegs is the Executive Director), will soon conduct our Second Photography Workshop for Kids, and perhaps Basic Photography for Seniors.  Equipment requirement?  Compact cameras and celphone cameras.  Why not?  It’s the era of compact and celphone photography.

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Revisiting an Old Issue

Four years ago, I wrote about an issue that I have long believed in but had only just began (by then) catching the attention of more Filipino professionals – cremation (when my first wife died in 2003 we had her cremated as she and I agreed on sometime in 1997 after my heart by-pass operation). I’d like to revisit my blog entry on cremation on 28 January 2010 as more and more friends are becoming  interested in cremation.  I’m unable to ask readers to simply go back to my old entry in 2010 because my account then got hacked and I have abandoned that site since – meaning, it no longer exists.   Using the same blog title, I opened a new blog account on January 5, 2011.  This is what you can visit now.

Before I print some excerpts from my blog entry in January 2010, let me provide the common definitions of two terms.  First, the word cremation means “turning bodies into ashes.”  To cremate means to burn.  Cremation used to be taboo as topic of discussion among many Filipinos, but more and more have been convinced that it is an acceptable practice.  Second, the term columbarium refers to a space where the urn containing the ashes of the cremated is stored.  The word columbarium came from the Latin word columba, meaning “dove.”  Originally, the term columbarium referred to a compartmentalized housing for doves and pigeons.

 Facade of the Columbarium at St. Therese Chapel in UPLB (top), and interiors of same (right and bottom).  Normally, a columbarium has very serene premises.

Here’s an excerpt from my blog entry in January 2010.

Cremation, by any means, isn’t a new concept.  It goes a long way back.  Historians believe it may have started in the early Stone Age, about 5,000 BC, somewhere in Europe and the Near East.  Toward the late Stone Age, cremation spread in Northern Europe as evidenced by decorative pottery urns found in Western Russia among the Slavic people.

During the Bronze Age, about 2,500 to 1,000 BC, the practice of cremation moved to the British Isles and then Spain and Portugal.  Cremation was also practiced later on in Hungary, Northern Italy, Northern Europe, and then Ireland.

Cremation was an elaborate burial custom in Greece about 1,000 BC, becoming the dominant mode in which deceased were disposed during the time of Homer, about 800 BC.  It was encouraged for health reasons, and for the expedient disposition of slain warriors.  The early Romans probably practiced cremation as well in the period around 600 BC.  During the Roman Empire, 27 BC to 395 AD, cremation was a common practice and urns became very elaborate and were stored in columbarium-like buildings.

Cremation ceased as a practice when Constantine Christianized Europe, and earth burial completely replaced it.

The modern history of cremation began a century ago.  In Great Britain, the cremation movement was fostered by Queen Victoria’s surgeon, Dr. Henry Thompson, who organized the Cremation Society of England in 1874.  The declaration of this Society said:

We, the undersigned, disapprove the present custom of burying the dead and we desire to substitute some mode which shall rapidly resolve the body into its component elements, by a process which cannot offend the living and shall render the remains perfectly innocuous.  Until some better method is devised we desire to adopt that usually known as cremation.

The main period of growth and acceptance of cremation and the construction of crematoria began in the early 1950s.  By 1967, cremations exceeded the number of burials in Britain.  In 2003, there were 244 crematoria in England and earlier by December 31,2002 there were 437,124 cremations, representing 71.9% of all deaths in that country.

In 2006, there were 700,000 cremations in the USA, which accounted for 32% of dead Americans that year.  In 2009, even during the minor recession in the USA, cremation actually boomed and accounted for 40% of the disposition of the dead in that country that year.

In the Philippines, cremation has gained acceptance to an increasing number of people, particularly during the last decade.  In the next few years, it is expected that there would be a substantial increase in the number of Filipinos who shall have accepted cremation as a practice.  After all, according to the CBCP Website, cremation is not prohibited by the Catholic Church even if it’s not a traditional church practice.

Why do I have a certain bias for cremation?  Well, I personally think it is more sanitary than earth burial.  Look at most public cemeteries in the Philippine countryside, particularly in places where people can’t afford to construct family mausoleums.  Graves are dug on spaces that serve as passages for people because even our cemeteries are over-crowded.  Also, the increase in the area needed for cemeteries has direct relationship with the increase in our population.  Since we have practically decided to let loose our population, we should probably prepare to provide enough space for cemeteries for the next tens of millions of dead.  We’re now having problems with cemeteries that have become so small given that more and more have to be buried.

How much does cremation cost?  Well, this is complicated.  The fee for the cremation service is different from the cost of the columbarium.  In fact, those responsible for these are two different businesses.  Cremation includes burning the body and putting the bone ashes in the urn.  Incidentally, the cost of the urn is included in the cremation service.  You can choose the urn you like.  The common materials in the manufacture of urns are marble, bronze, wood, metal, or ceramic.  I have yet to see an urn made of clear glass, though.

My philosophical and personal views about cremation haven’t changed.  I have, however, gained a little more insights into the matter given developments during the last few years.  For example, I’ve looked more deeply into and with more concern the disparity between those who can afford and those who can’t regarding the use of cemeteries.  It is as if the poor do not anymore have right to cemeteries, even public cemeteries.  This is easy to decipher based on mere access.  Look at the size of various family mausoleums owned by the moneyed.  These are large concrete buildings, frequently with marble floors, and by any measure are much larger (and certainly much more expensive) than the houses of the poor anywhere in the country.   And how are the poor buried?  Those who really can’t afford are buried in holes right on the pathways in-between cheap tombs in public cemeteries.  Of course, family mausoleums are frequently located in memorial gardens.  In the case of Pila, Laguna (and possibly other places), however, the family mausoleums in the public cemetery there are large and expensive-looking.

There is another advantage to cremation.  When the body is cremated immediately after its release from the hospital, for example, the urn and picture may be displayed during the wake.  When necrological services are requested to be held in places other than the place of wake, it is easier to carry and transport the urn than the coffin.  In many ways, the urn doesn’t really symbolize, as does the coffin, the permanency of one’s departure and, hence, less traumatic for loved ones.

The cost aspects?  I have no idea.  My guess is that cremation, over-all, would be more cost-efficient.  But you don't have to take my word for it.  Do your own arithmetic.

Old Pictures at Random

Old UPCA Pictures at Random

For the old hand at UPLB, this aerial view of Grove (foreground) and the UPLB campus is definitely recognizable.  Of course, it's much more congested now, and quite a few commercial houses have replaced old landmarks like the Kitchenette, Quality Store, Carangal Store, and Hongkong restaurant.

This closer aerial view shows clearly the Gate, Samonte Hall, CDC Bldg, BioScience Bldg, UPLB Library, SEARCA Bldg., PhySci Bldg, and the dormitories

This used to be the Department of Entomology building, but today is the College of Human Ecology (which used to be the Department of Human Technology).

For the nostalgic, this pix is a very high angle view (the photographer must be way above the old Agronomy building) of the portion of the UPLB Campus showing Mt. Makiling in the background.  This was how the place looked like prior to the construction of the new UPCA buildings in the mid-1960s.

Even in those days, they used to hold classes under the shade of a tree.  Here, a professor demonstrates to horticulture students how to construct a sedbed.

In my first semester at UPCA, our class in Elementary Sociology met under the shade of a kaimito tree beside the then Dept. of Agricultural Education Bldg, which used to be where the CDC stands today.

Looks like boodle fight?  Not really.  When I was Freshman (uh, um, in the early 60s) taking up horticulture subject, this was how we took our practical exams in our laboratory classes.  Students position themselves in front of one kind of crop of vegetable, writes the name of the vegetable in his quiz paper (common -- English -- name and scientific name), and waits for the signal to move to the next specimen.  We had one minute for each crop/plant.

This first time I took this practical exam, I knew none of the crops because these were not grown where I came from.  But I knew all of them by semester's end.

This is currently the DCMT (used to be DMST), but this building used to be the UPCA Infirmary.  This bldg is near the Baker Hall, across from the parade ground.

UPCA Hotel?  Well, this was the Faculty Cottage bldg., where faculty members lived in the olden days.

This, of course, is the most popular and important landmark on the old UPCA Campus, the UPCA Gate, very distinct because of the carabao heads and the carabao and farmer statue behind.  In our time, there were only five passenger jeepneys plying the route between the UCPA campus and Bayan.  The passenger fee then was P0.10, but we preferred to walk even down to Crossing because sayang naman ang ten centavos. Today, students, interestingly, are back to walking.  Must be due to the wellness movement going on among faculty and students of UPLB.  Current traffic rule prohibiting passenger jeepneys from plying streets in the middle of the campus has made UPLB a pedestrian campus, which isn't a new idea.   Brisk walking from classroom to classroom across campus used to be a required task for all UPCA students.

The PhySci Bldg under construction in the mid-60s.  This was the site where the building housing plant breeding and the Office of the College Secretary of UPCA used to stand.

At the back of the old building was the then Department of Humanities bldg. 

Professors and students of plant breeding used to work together out in the farm.

Today, many faculty members are out on consultancy assignments, and students are scared of getting darker under the heat of the sun.  Times, indeed, have changed.

This was how the old building of the Department of Plant Pathology looked like prior to the Five Year Development Program of UPCA.  What stands on this site today is the Abelardo G. Samonte Hall, what used to be the UPLB Administration Building but which has been returned to the Office of the Dean, College of Agriculture, during the term of Chancellor Luis Rey Vilasco.

In those heady years at the UPCA, when there were very few female students (this scene is in the 50s), UPCA students invited female students from UP's Padre Faura Campus and other Manila-based universities (like PWU, PNC, among others) to be guests during Loyalty Day Balls.

Quite a few of those kolehyalas from those universities and colleges in Manila eventually joined the UPCA faculty and married young UPCA faculty members.  Los Banos was rich hunting ground for good looking, dependable husbands.  Since the psycho-emotional make-up of the UPCA Loyalty Day changed in the late 60s, the Loyalty Day Ball ceased.  Besides, there was rapid increase in the number female students in Los Banos beginning in the 60s, and there no longer was need to invite kolehyalas from Manila and suburbs.  Female UPCA students were as pretty and active academically as their counterparts from Padre Faura.

In the mid-1960's, during the implementation of the Five Year Development Program of UPCA, the carabao statues were moved back to where they now are.  Moving those solid concrete statues and monuments wasn't easy, and it took quite sometime to get them where they now stand.  This task lasted three months.

Another common event on the UPCA campus in the 60s were the field days.  This rice field day was attended by a large number of farmers from around the rice growing provinces, including students from other colleges of agriculture.  As students, we always looked forward to these field days.

In the late 1970's the old Agricultural Chemistry building was razed by fire.  The facade of the AgChem Bldg was what was left.  A new building is now standing on this same site.

In the 1960's, too, the UPCA offered the BS Sugar Technology program.  Students in this program had scholarships.  In fact, we ordinary mortals at UPCA used to call this group, together with majors of agricultural chemistry, the elite group, an acknowledgment, I guess, that they were good, in chemistry.



In future entries, we shall try to write about new programs and landmarks on the UPLB Campus as they appear today.

Expecting Turning Points in 2013

 

I’m not absolutely elated writing about what I expect this year because it sounds like making New Year’s Resolutions and I’m not into this kind of exercise.  However, there’s one certain thing that will happen at the end of May 2013.  By then, I shall have reached 70 and my full-time appointment as Professor of development communication at the UPOU would no longer be extended as has been done in the last five years because Civil Service rules in this country prohibit further extension of such appointment.  I have been partially retired the last five years because of the extension of my appointment as professor.  Effective 31 May 2013, however, I shall be (what I call) absolutely retired.

If I’m lucky, and I’ll know this toward the end of January 2013 when the BOR meets, I might be awarded this honorific title of Professor Emeritus.  Some friends have been telling me that they know my name is included in the list (how they knew about it escapes me) that shall be deliberated upon by the BOR this month, but that’s just about it as far as I am concerned. 

To be awarded the honorific title of Professor Emeritus at the University of the Philippines is a great honor for a retired professor.  The title is for lifetime, although it doesn’t carry with it any remuneration, just the honor.  Not all Full Professors who have retired are given such title.  Theoretically, this honorific title should really be automatic for those who have reached the rank of Professor 12 upon retirement from UP, but the rules have made becoming Professor Emeritus absolutely competitive, not without any bad feelings among those not given the title, I must add.

What are the advantages of being granted the title Professor Emeritus at UP?  Among other things, the new rules provide that only those who have reached the rank of Professor 12 upon retirement are entitled to recommendation for the title of Professor Emeritus.  Too, members of this “elite” group are entitled to an office space and some logistical support if they’re undertaking teaching or research activities for the university.  I’m not sure about the financial package, if, in fact, there is any.  As far as I know, there’s no regular remuneration.  Hence, I shall not comment on that one.  I think that has become a thorny issue given that the financial resources of the university are not really that much.

Retired professors, indeed, still have the brainpower and the physical strength to continue doing what they have always done well … teach, particularly at the graduate level, although I’d like to argue that these retired professors should probably be given the opportunity to teach basic undergraduate courses.  They know the content, and they have the wisdom to make such content much more meaningful to younger learners.

Now, as most retirees would ask, what?  I have a lot of things in mind.

First, I intend to return to science journalism, which was my favorite of years back.  It will be fun writing feature articles about science and scientific topics for magazines and the popular media.  Linking up again with Zac Sarian would be great.  Too, it would be nice to join my old friend, Louie Tabing, on radio now and then perhaps as part-time field reporter.

Second, I’m keen on going the route of the lecture circuit in universities talking about topics and issues many undergraduate and graduate students are interested in, such as writing theses, development communication, media research, and the like.  Naturally, I’ll just wait for invitations.

Third, I shall, of course, continue with my teaching activities at UPOU if they ask me to teach the courses I have been teaching in the meantime that they have not determined who will teach those ones now.  At UPOU this means I shall be considered as part-time professorial lecturer.  The title Professor Emeritus doesn’t automatically mean that I shall continue to teach at UPOU.  In fact, the title means I am retired and not entitled to teach unless specifically appointed to do so.

Fourth, I shall now be glad to accept editing work.  Editing dissertations and theses have always interested me but I haven’t had enough time to go into this in the past.  I did this when I was in graduate school at Indiana University.  Of course, editing dissertations and theses is a challenging task, but one that I have always enjoyed doing.

Fifth, I would like to do policy-oriented research.  These are fun research that I’d like to do.  One, I’d like to do a study on why there’s a continuing decline in the enrollments in agriculture programs in the country.  Part of this should be an analysis of public perception about higher education in agriculture among Filipinos.  Two, I’d like to do another fun study, correlating historical data about graduation trends in forestry programs  and the corresponding decrease in forest cover of these islands over the years.  My hypothesis is that there is an inverse relationship between the number of graduates in forestry programs and the forest cover of these islands.   That is to say, the larger the number of forestry graduates, the faster the decrease in forest cover of the islands.  We could probably hypothesize similarly in the field of agriculture.  How about in other fields?  One wonders.

Sixth, if all these do not come about as quick as I’m hoping, I can always take a brief rest toward the middle of the year before moving on again.  Yes, life can begin at 70, I dare say.

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