Seyma Tap: R.I.P. Rin Ros

As I walked towards the exit of the basketball court, I passed by a group of men. Right as I step out of the entrance, one of their buddies enters.

"... passed away," he yelled out to them. "That n*gga's gone."

As I walked further and further away, I kept trying to figure out the name of the person he mentioned. I wonder who could it have been? Probably an older man. Maybe a gang member? Little did I know that the person who died was actually one of my peers.

Hours earlier, I had heard my mom and her friends frantically speaking about someone who was severely beaten and was bleeding tremendously.

"His face was bruised and scraped." "There was blood all over his shoulders." "His clothing was stained with his blood."

At that moment I thought: It's just another person.

And to this day, I regret ever thinking that.

Because that person was a fourteen-year-old boy. A boy who was only in his second week of his sophomore year at Stagg. A boy who I remember throwing water balloons at. A boy who used to tease me. A boy who I had known since childhood. A boy who was my neighbor. A boy who I had seen standing with his friends just a day before, smiling.

That boy was Rin Ros.

On that day, Rin was severely beaten at Panella Park. After being taken home by his friends, he experienced cardiac arrest. He later died at St. Joseph's Medical Center.

I can't describe how I felt when I read about the incident on recordnet.com. I was absolutely shocked. The average person would've cried the moment that they learn about a friend's death. But I didn't shed a single drop of tear. I couldn't. I didn't want to. I asked myself, would Rin want us too?

On August 8, a ceremony was held at his home. Monks and residents gathered inside his living room where they chanted, prayed, and gave their blessings. Tables were set outside where a picture of a young Rin layed. I glanced at it, but I just couldn't look at it for more than second. That little boy... is gone.

The next week, I sat at my desk in my third period Health class looking through my textbook. After a few minutes of turning pages, I stop. Right in front of me was a chapter about mourning a person’s death and a chart on the different stages of grief. As I instantly thought of Rin, my eyes began to water.

Why, at that moment, was I about to shed tears when I didn't a few days earlier?

The fact that Rin was no longer on the campus just hit me like a ton of bricks. I felt like crying then and there, but I was able to hold it in.

His funeral was held on a Saturday a few weeks ago, but I was unable to attend. His friends and family were able to look at him laying in his coffin for the last time, and that will be their last image of him. If I was there, I would have chosen not to look at his body because the last time I saw him was when he was smiling and that will always be my last image of him. It will be a positive and happy memory of him.

I give my blessings to Rin's family and I hope we don't ever have to experience the loss of a youth again even though it's inevitable.

Rest In Peace Rin Ros. We will always miss you.

Clearly Claire: Flipped for "Flipped"

We all remember that time. The confusing, strange, messy time when we were just starting to figure out life. We were stepping one foot out of childhood and stepping another into adulthood. We remember the awkward moments, the unstoppable changes, and that first love. The one that stays with us no matter how hard we try to shake it. Rob Reiner's new movie "Flipped" chronicles two young adults flying through that time in their life. As they try to navigate the troubled waters of their youth, they find that they just might be what the other has always been looking for.

The movie starts off with Bryce (Callan McAuliffe) moving to a new town. That's when he meets her. The girl who was destined to spend the next few years stalking him, his next-door-neighbor Juli (Madeline Carroll). To her, he is her one love, the boy walking around with her first kiss. To him, she is an annoyance, one that he must avoid for as long as he can. But what happens when he begins to see her for who she is and decides that maybe she isn't an annoyance, but his one true love. Will it be too late?

This movie is, to say the least, lovely. I loved every moment of this movie. It was beautifully shot and wonderfully written. The actors are phenomenal and I enjoyed every minute of their performance.

The dialogue is genius. The narration keeps switching from Juli and Bryce, who show us the same scene, yet offer a much different perspective. I love how, in one scene, Bryce talks about how he tried to run away from this crazy woman and she grabbed his hand to make him stay.Yet, Juli, narrating the same scene, says that she had to chase after him and when he grabbed her hand, smiled shyly loving every minute. It is just so clever.

The actors in this movie, not only speak the dialogue well, but they add something more. McAuliffe is so good at playing a teen stuck between what he thinks he should want and what he actually wants. He really made me believe that he was a confused kid with a perfection driven father on one side and a crazy yet lovable friend on the other. In one scene he is sitting at the dinner table with his family eating with Juli's family when it dons on him that his father may not be the perfect man he pretends to be. He performance moved me to no ends.

The plot is done wonderfully. The filmmaker took moments in every one's lives, moments we all experience and turned them extraordinary. The scene with Juli and her family sitting and eating dinner together is one that I can see in my own mind from childhood, yet I never truly realized how wonderful those moments were until I saw how Bryce's family interacted at the dinner table. It was unpleasant to say the least. This movie shows you life as we all have seen it, yet I wasn't bored. It wasn't a movie about life so much as it was about the people in our lives that we can take for granted. The people that we see everyday, but don't really see.

This movie made me laugh. It made me cry. It gave me a warm and fuzzy feeling that lasted a long time after the movie ended. Unfortunately this movie is no longer playing in Stockton, but it is worth the drive. See this movie, I guarantee you will love it. It will remind you, like it did me, of the crazy eventful time that was filled with first, but none as special as that first love.

That Religious Guy: A long way for an accent

..... My quest for the Philippine Spanish accent started last school year and my, what a journey it has been. I have crossed the jungles of Yahoo! Answers. I have visited the quarreling hermits of Antimoon Forums. Amazingly enough, I have even constructed a home in the thriving online metropolis of the city called "Facebook" just to find Filipino hispanohablantes. I have done all these activities in search of an accent, but I come back with a better knowledge of my heritage and my islands, the Philippines.


..... Contrary to most people's perception of Filipinos, our “hispanicity” (nuestra Hispanidad) extends farther than our last names (i.e. Dela Cruz, Guerrero, Bautista) or the names of our desserts (i.e. Cuchintas, Brazo de Merced, Leche Flan). At one point in the archipelago's history, Spanish was spoken from Luzon all the way to Mindanao. Spanish was the language of the revolutionaries, our ilustrados like Jose Rizal, Andres Bonifacio, and Emilio Aguinaldo. We Filipinos owe our present democracy not to the Anglophone Americans but to our very own native Hispanohablantes.

….. Sadly, Spanish was quickly supplanted in the Philippines with the arrival of the Americans after WWII. America decided that we’d be better off speaking English and practicing Protestantism. After all, the Spanish language and Catholicism were simply remnants of a fallen regime, the last traits of the colonizers that would have to be erased. And so as Filipino newspapers in Spanish were forced to close and the educational system shifted to English, it wasn’t long before the Iberian tongue was slowly fading away.

….. One would think that with more than 300 years of colonization, we’d remember some things those Spaniards taught us. Sure, we may still have the odd Spanish phrase or word preserved into our native languages, but Spanish remains largely unpopular. Efforts like the decision to make Spanish compulsory in schools and courses taught by the Instituto Cervantes, however, are allowing the language to be revived.

….. I finally did learn about the Philippine Spanish accent. Drop by Señora Chavez’s Spanish 5-6 class and you’ll hear my “lisping” voice. The Philippine Spanish accent derives many of its features from the Castellano as spoken by the Spaniards. We regularly use “vosotros/vosotras” and our accent preserves the lleismo and distincíon of old. Therefore, I can be heard saying “conduthir” (conducir) and “otra veth” (otra vez) instead of “condusir” and “otra ves” like my Mexican friends. There also exists a slight short breathy sound (aspiration?) when saying the letter “g” and “j.”

….. The reasons for the Filipino accent being so like the Spaniard one is because unlike in the rest of the Hispanic world, Spanish went largely spoken by the upper-class. It never truly became the common, everyday language even though there were some attempts to educate the masses. Therefore, Philippine Spanish preserved many of the Iberian characteristics.

….. Learning Spanish has ultimately allowed me to understand aspects of my culture I never really learned about. Though the Philippines is in Asia, its languages, cuisine, religion, and customs identify it as the forgetful daughter of Madre España. I have learned where Filipino phrases like “basta kung” and “asikaso” are derived from (Spanish: basta con, hacer caso a), which makes me appreciate the diversity of the language spoken in my family. So if ever you find yourself in the Philippines, feel free to speak some Spanish. You might just feel surprised when someone asks you “Cual es su gracia?” (Which is your grace? / What is your name?)

- Jeremy Dela Cruz

RANDOMora: Mini Lady Gaga is nothing but show

Who is behind that Poker Face?

Well it is but young eight-year-old Brazilian Laura Fontana, best known as Mini Lady Gaga. Fontana has become rapidly popular on the web because of her cover of Lady Gaga's single "Poker Face" on "Britain's Got Talent."



It's rather disturbing than "Aw ain't she a cutie" sort of thing. Compare sixth grader Greyson Michael Chance, who became an overnight Internet Youtube sweetheart after his cover of Gaga's "Paparazzi," she's not as aspiring.

Not to say the girl isn't cute or trying, but it seems like her parents are, well stage moms. However, when Fontana had gotten teary at the end of her performance, that did fill a sweet whole in my heart.

Nonetheless, it is just strange that the young star is singing provocative lyrics where at least Chance is sure to censor himself when necessary.

Mini Lady Gaga is sure to stay on the web for awhile, but unlike Chance, I doubt Ellen DeGeneres will be calling her home anytime soon.

RANDOMora: Gaga you amaze me

I cannot go a minute after watching Lady Gaga's "Alejandro" and click to a new tab without feeling sheer effect come over me.

It casts religion, sex of course, and crazed enough, total shock value your grandma would weep to with every scene flashing through the screen.

Gaga, you won.

The video's essence is raw, dark, and incredibly not suited for any age. It has a bit of a Madonna essence within it as Gaga is dancing in hollow light with an all over black outfit which can't still cover much of what she exposes. The whole "Like a Virgin" scene comes into mid-action when Gaga is being tossed around over rickety (mind you disgusting) beds by men of which eventually her clothing is consumed of and she is buried beneath them.

Gaga doesn't seem to worry about the amount of sex she portrays to her audience, instead that is something she's more than aware of to succeed in displaying in her video unlike past ones.

What is really shocking are the scenes that contain religious aspects but more the dark and gloomy shadows of her soul within it. This isn't to me as an artistic aspect, but just plain thrilling in a Gaga sort of way; thus weird.

"Alejandro" is such an upbeat dance song but by watching this video you would see the actual monster theme she was thriving for.

It's scary enough for the weak souls I suppose, but I don't think anyone can get up from seeing "Alejandro" and say it's not good. But to say I love it, well it would probably take a lot of energy and time to actually take in what I witnessed today. Thanks to "ALejandro," the video "Telephone" has barely become tolerable.

That Religious Guy: The Empire strikes back ... at Mother Teresa?

..... Catholic League president, Bill Donohue, has made a name for himself defending the Church against rampant anti-Catholicism. He doesn't look for trouble. Trouble finds him. And just recently, trouble did find Donohue in the form of a rejection letter.

..... Like many people, Donohue admires Mother Teresa's contributions to society. Out of a desire to honor her on her 100th birthday, Donohue applied to the Empire State Building Lighting Partners in February to have the structure light up in blue and white, the colors of the Missionaries of Charity. After all, the Empire State Building has been lighted up in red, white, and blue for America and has featured Yankees colors whenever they win. The U.S. Postal Service is even going to publish a Mother Teresa commemorative stamp in honor of her birthday. In May, however, Donohue's request was denied for unknown reasons. Was it because the Empire State Building doesn't try to promote religious groups? Nope, since it apparently flies holiday colors for Christmas, Hannukah, and Islamic holidays. So why can't this structure honor a woman who dedicated her life to helping the poor? When it all boils down to it, it's anti-Catholicism at its best, or should I say worst?

..... Last year amid the protests of human rights activists and U.S. congressmen, the Empire State Building chose to honor the 60th anniversary of the 1949 Maoist Communist  Revolution. The communists are after all, the ideal role models for society right? It apparently didn't matter to the Empire State Building Lighting Partners that the Maoists can now live in infamy for intolerance and murder. Donohue puts it best when he observes, "Yet under its founder, Mao Zedong, the Communists killed 77 million people. In other words, the greatest mass murderer in history merited the same tribute being denied to Mother Teresa."

.....Though she didn't commit hundreds of human rights violations, Mother Teresa did receive the Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the Congressional Medal of Freedom. She has also been beatified by the Roman Catholic Church and is on her way to becoming a saint. So you decide. Why is the Empire State Building Lighting Partners refusing to honor Mother Teresa? Is it because she helped care for refugees, gave homes for orphans, and fed the hungry? Or is it simply because she's a Roman Catholic, a member of a religion that faces a lot of prejudice to this day. So readers, you decide and post a comment.

- Jeremy Dela Cruz

That Religious Guy: Of Priests and Nuns

..... Well, a certain splinter group of our neighbors to the north have just recently "ordained" a women "priest." Now, it's not the Canadians I'm speaking of, after all, les Quebecois are too conservative for that. The organization Womenpriests, which seeks to persuade the Roman Catholic Church to extend priestly ordination to women, has given its blessing to Diane Whalen, 58, of Olympia, Washington.

..... It's not surprising that I'd find this "ordination" offensive and strange. Some might say that the Church is too traditional, too Medieval for the modern world. These people will say that the Church's policy on male-only ordination is sexist and demeaning to women. Well, I find Womenpriests worldwide ordinations to be sexist and demeaning to women and men!

..... As a Roman Catholic discerning a vocation to the priesthood, I'm insulted that many of the women ordained by Womenpriests are married or have been married. Whalen says that she felt the call to the priesthood in high school but also realized that "she also wanted to have boyfriends and to marry." One cannot just pick and choose features of vocations and blend them into something else. Each vocation has its virtues. Married life has the benefit of loving families and consecrated life (That is the life of priests and nuns) provides an opportunity to serve God's people. The Church isn't some sort of Baskin Robbins where people can say "Hey, I want a scoop of married life... and a side of priesthood too." The new "women priests" should maybe take a page from their many male contemporaries, who never married and stayed loyal to the discipline of chastity.

..... The whole mission of Womenpriests also ends up demeaning women. Their advocates say that becoming nuns or sisters isn't enough for women. Apparently we need women to be in leadership. Of course I agree with this. You know why? It's because the Church has had women in leadership positions for centuries: they're called the female religious. Womenpriests is underestimating the contributions and influences of the nuns and sisters in the life of the Church. Women hold high positions in Catholic education, social services, and other venues. Women, both lay and religious, have become saints. As Catholic.org says: "The history of the Church is full of many women Catholic saints, who received recognition for great deeds or meritorious conduct. Many lost their lives in defense of the faith, while others were themselves the mothers of important saints. Many were also honored for their contributions to the Church and their community." Let's not forget the historical trend of women maintaining the faith in their families. Mothers, sisters, aunts, and grandmothers have all contributed to the family's religious life by preserving traditions and encouraging Mass attendance.

..... The Church owes its longevity to all its members, both male and female. Each has his or her role and purpose. Womenpriests is too busy trying to look for imperfections in the Church that it ends up shortchanging the female gender.

- Jeremy Dela Cruz