ARBITER Official newsletter of UP ABAM

This rather

‘controversial’ mne-

monic recently given to

ABAM has spurred a

myriad of reactions and a clash of emotions amongst members and non-members

alike. A number were elated and instantly mirrored their interpretation of the said al-

ternative meaning. Not a few immediately armed themselves with arguments to con-

test the connotation. But what exactly is the controversy about?

Masaya. Happiness. What exactly is it?

Given a dictionary, one can easily leaf through it and provide the lexical mean-

ing in no time. Common sense is also a very accessible bank to withdraw a ready an-

swer. Easy right? But how come this becomes a hot topic of inquiry?

Imagine yourself smiling, laughing, grinning, giggling, chuckling… Yes, these

differ from one another and express different levels of happiness as well. Some people

instantly feel their hearts skipping a beat with just a small act of altruism. Others could

spend the rest of their life basking in the sacred light of their religion, for this is what

gives them an inexplicable bliss. Most can’t help but smile with the tingling sensation of

a budding and growing romance. One cannot easily hold back a fit of laughter with one

spontaneous silly act or joke. Still, there is this hint of satisfaction when one realizes

that he/she is more fortunate than other individuals.

So what is happiness? This is pretty much subjective. Only you can tell what

happiness is for you. The common denominator is that sweet, funny and even exhila-

rating feeling that arises from specific to random instances which affects each of us

differently and we, likewise, ex- press in various ways.

So we ask the same question again. What is

happiness?

We have one answer.

ABAM. ABAM is happiness.

Arbiter staff

Editors-in-chief:

Ma. Tricia

Claudine Tayona

Katharine Garcia

Layout artist:

Marianne Faith Reyes

AAAAng BBBBuhay aaaay mmmmasaya

Editor‘s Note

It will not be as if

you never existed…

…here in ABAM, even if you’re still a transi-

tional!

This was clearly the message of

2009’s last Transitionals’ Orientation, with

the title the TransOrn saga: Transitional’s

Orientation. Held on the 27th

of November,

in room 309 at 6-8 PM, this event marked

the 2nd

step to being a full-fledged ABAMer,

after the recruitment period.

Tons of laughter,

loads surprises and lots of get-

to-know ABAM made up the

first get-together night of this

year’s last batch of transitionals.

A message from Nico Salvador,

the current ABAM president and

Tim Humangit, last year’s presi-

dent, gave more inspiration to the

trans. The energetic trans took

hearty laughs as they answered

the introduction questions given by

the hosts, Suzie Abela (Externals

Executive VP) and Oskie King (VP for

SE), while raising issues here and

there with the most ‘controversial’

answers, making them forget the very

meaning and existence of boredom.

The alumni, Timothy Humangit

and Eddi Paul Saguilayan served as judges

for the most awaited game. The trans and

mems unleashed their artistic potentials as

they played the out-of-this world version of

paint-me-a-picture, with a major twist in

the finals. The whole ABAM family, includ-

ing the trans, was divided into 4 groups

according to the 4 departments of the org.

With HR and FIN groups landing at the final

round, they successfully staged a clip from

the movie New Moon. Not

only did Jacob’s abs awaken the whole audi-

ence, but the comedic performance of the

finalists surely out staged the movie clip

itself! In the end, one team has to win and

the heart of ABAM, the HRD department,

emerged as the champion.

The creative audiovisual presenta-

tions of each department (Finance, Special

Events, Community Affairs and Human re-

sources and De- velopment Depart-

ment) were pre-

sented to help the

trans know the UP

Association of Busi-

ness Administra-

tion Majors more.

Each Vice Presi-

dent introduced

his/her depart-

ment: Mycah

Figueroa for Fin,

Oskie King for

SE, RC de Luna

for CA and

Diane Reyes

for HRD. The

AVP for

Trans, Gelai

Bersaba,

explained the

trans process to the transitionals.

Yabang Pinoy was also introduced by Erielle

Pineda. Lastly, the Internals Executive Vice

President, Tintin Espiritu, delievered the

closing remarks and some announcements.

Oh, how could anyone forget the

sumptuous dinner consisting of pasta, pan-

cit, pizza, Smidgets and refreshing Cool Aid

that filled our stomachs? Well, it was really

a grand night! ABAM has just started

the shower of extraordinarily unfor-

gettable events! ♥

TransOrn: N

ew Moon

TransOrn: N

ew Moon

TransOrn: N

ew Moon

TransOrn: N

ew Moon

by Claudin

e Tayona

1

Starting off with new faces

Trans’

an-

swers:

Cha Casas

Sarili ko ang iboboto ko, prie: priceless

kasi mararating ng taong magbibid sa akin

ang highest level sa Maslow’s hierarchy of

needs.

Louie Aguilar

Si Iya, P100 para

makaabot sa finals

Robert Rojas

Ibibid ko si Biance

for P69 dahil sabi

niya masarap

maging #2.. haha!

Denise Torres

Reden; P5; crush ko siya..

Nichi Pujol

Yung buddy ko na lang (Jove Tercero)

para safe… inosenteng bata yun eh..

haha! Piso lang pero kung marami magbi-

bid, edi up to P50..

Aldrin Linas

Buddy Cha; P500 para makalimutan niya

yung fave song nya na I love you goodbye

at para maging masaya na siya… haha!

Mark Fernandez

Marichris, P100 kasi kahit papaano kilala

ko na sya, partner sa ABAMay KaDAte ka

Nanaman; Chloe, P100, maganda kasi

siya, isa sa mga una kong nakita

Mems’ answers:

Anonymous

-EJ at Malco B., P1000 each dahil

MAHAL ko sila

J0cs Dilag

Tinatanong pa ba yan? I love you

Clauds! Pwedeng pagmamahal na

lang ang ibayad ko? Marichris para

magkapareho yung buddies, P1 para

manalo si Mark

Crusher

Quiana, ngayon ko lang napansin na cute

pala siya. Pwede pic na lang nya ibid ko?

Dahil poor ako, P100; Hazel Co kasi ma-

panlait siya…crush ko sya ngayon kasi

mabait pala sya, akala ko ang sungit-

sungit nya, P200 dahil pinakabagong

crush

Suzie

EJ kasi gusto ko syang maging lalaki,

P1000; Noel kasi si Noel ang tunay na

mahirap…si Noel ang tunay na may mala-

sakit…

Paul

Richelle, P50,

maganda;

Marichris kasi

maganda, P50 rin

Crema

Malco B kahit mag-

kano chos… kasi

pareho kaming B and ang hot

nya; Tim kasi cute sya, mga P200 nga lang

Hazel Co

lahat ng kasali sa abamay ka date ka!

sorry kailangan eh, di kami pwde may

bias:) hmm pero kung di kasali..si buddy

meilyn (mem) at naesa (trans) dahil super

buddies ko sila

Amethyst Ring

Mark Anthony, P100, kasi he knows how

to bring in a good laugh in the middle of a

serious conversation; Tanjo because he’ll

always be my head-turner.

2

Question: Kung lahat ng ABAMers

ay ibi-bid sa ABAMay KaDate Ka,

sinu-sino ang ibi-bid mo

(preferably 1 trans + 1 mem),

magkano at bakit?

TRANS

AND MEMS

CORNER

Want to know more about ABAM’s latest? Flip to page 10!

A sneak peak to ABAM hidden desires

Fourth

place

was

defi-

nitely not the title that ABAM & AIESEC’s

Golden Centaurs (Yellow) team fished for.

Though the team did not reach the most

sought after highest spot, it still landed trium-

phantly on the 1st

runner up place, following

JMA’s Red Titans which achieved the champi-

onship and along with JPIA & PX’s Blue Bakun-

awa and CE, JFA & IBA’s Green Griffins, holding

the titles of second and third runner up respec-

tively.

Here are the official results of BACBA-

CAN 2 (showing the winners per game)*:

The hard-earned fruits of the

Men’s Basketball teams:

Game 1 Red

Game 2 Green

Game 3 Red

Game 4 Yellow

Game 5 Red

The knockout performance of the Futsal teams

Game 1 Red

Game 2 Yellow

Game 3 Red

Game 4 Green

Game 5 Red

Additional Game Yellow

The unparalleled feat of the

Women’s Basketball teams

Game 1 Red

Game 2 Yellow

Game 3 Red

Game 4 Blue

Game 5 Red

The brave Attendance of each team

Yellow 27.01%

Green 28.40%

Blue 53.32%

Red 24.25%

The altitude of the soaring Vol-

leyball

teams Game 1 Red

Game 2 Yellow

Game 3 Yellow

Game 4 Blue

Game 5 Yellow

The thick competition in

the Parlor Games

Game 1 Game2

Yellow 15 15

Green 7.5 7.5

Blue 12.5 10

Red 10 12.5

Winner Yellow Yellow

The pride of Mr. and Ms. Bacbacan

Yellow 90

Green 90

Blue 94

Red 89

The jibing moves of the

Cheerdance teams

Yellow 84

Green 81.25

Blue 83.5

Red 84.5

The most awaited Overall scores

Yellow 235

Green 170

Blue 202.5

Red 242.5

With all the teams’ competitive spirits raised to their maximum, who would doubt that

BACBACAN II 2009 was one big success? With all the fun, sportsmanship, strategy

and creativity manifested in this glorious event, truly, all of us would look for-

ward to next year’s BACBACAN. Indeed, someone else was bound to take 4th

place from our team. Let’s have another and bigger blast next time!

*results provided by the BAC.

BACBACAN BLAST!BACBACAN BLAST!BACBACAN BLAST!BACBACAN BLAST! By Claudine Tayona

3

Raise the Athletic torch

So we won 1st

runner up

this year, are we prepared enough to be

the champion next year? You see, stained glass

craft isn’t as simple as putting cellophanes and

double-sided tapes together. And it won’t be

easy being up against a handful of other

BA orgs. But because we’re ABAM, be-

ing champion in this craft is something

we could certainly achieve. Here are a few

tips on how to—so read well!

Start early. The planning and preparation

phase takes the longest time. As soon as

the theme is announced, start brain-

storming for ideas. In our case, it was

Kapaskuhan, Kalikasan, Kinabukasan, which was

fairly broad you could come up with anything.

Get someone good at drawing and make a LOT

of sketches out of your ideas. Ask other people

for opinions and revise, revise, and revise again

until you come up with the best concept. ;-)

Get people to work on it

together.

The stained glass project

isn’t a one-man job— it

involves a lot of teamwork

from day one to deadline.

From making nine frame

panels, patiently cutting

intricate outlines out of

cardboard, placing the

outlines on the frame

with double adhesive,

and finally cutting and

“oiling” cellophane. It’ll

get oily and sticky

of course, but

as long as you

have dedicated

ABAMers who do not tire

of endlessly cutting and pasting bits of

cellophane…trust me, you’ll have a

masterpiece at hand.

**Did you

know?

ABAM is the only org in BA who

makes stained glass in mosaic-style (little

pieces of cellophane put together to achieve a

mosaic-like effect). It is also the only org which

uses oil as adhesive. Meganon?!

Enjoy it!

Winning is not the only goal of the stained glass

activity. So what if we’re second place kung tayo

naman pinakanag-enjoy?J In everything that we

do, put in the ABAMasaya spirit in it and we’ll

certainly achieve whatever we wanted to. Bond

and share the latest gossip with the ABAMers

while doing the project—it kept us going during

the crunch time. While other orgs wrote their

write-up in English, we wrote ours in tagalog

which described the concept more clearly. The

secret to our stained glass is not the technique,

but the ABAM culture embedded on every bit

and process of making it… and it sure worked!

4

1111

2222

3333

Artsy-Fartsy Fantasy

Stained Glass 101 By Mycah Figueroa

Everyone is excited for the coming of the most awaited vacation time of the year,

the Christmas Holidays. Students just can’t wait to get out of school grounds and

spend time with their families. Some are just eager to join their

friends in roaming around their neighborhood to sing

Christmas carols. And most people just love the

abundant FOOD and sweet laughter of their

loved ones during Noche Buena.

We, the

ABAMers, share the

same sentiments as

the others. But more

than that, we also feel

that Christmas is an

oppor- tunity to give

more to our less fortu-

nate brothers and

sisters. And so, it

has been a tradition of

ABAM to have a Christ-

mas caroling event. But what

differentiates that event from the tradi-

tional caroling is that we sing Christmas carols to

different houses and at the same time, be the ones to give

out what we can offer.

Last December 12, 2009, ABAMers walked around the neighbor-

hood of “Krus na Ligas”, carrying with them twenty bilao(s) filled with canned goods and

pasta to serve as the Noche Buena for the families. All those that were given to the fami-

lies were fruits of the passionate and unselfish love of the members of the different de-

partments of ABAM who donated for the said event.

Even though our voices can’t compare to the UP Concert Chorus, we still sang

our hearts out. We knew that Christmas carols were made to be sung with smiles and

love. Nothing compares to the feeling of leaving KNL that day, knowing that a hopeless

fam- ily, an ill grandfather or lonely grandmother now, somehow, feel that Christmas

is a time to hope again and be joyful.

For others, Christmas caroling may be about spending time

with friends and feeling excited to the

paper money they received. But

for the ABAM family, Christmas

caroling will always be spending

time with each other and just giv-

ing more. Cheers to all ABAMers!

What is Maligaya in ABAMaligayang Pasko?

By Kristine Liberato 5

Carol of th

e Belles and Beaus

‘Tis the season to be jolly…falalala lala-

lala… ABAM lived up to this song as we celebrated ABAM Christmas Party and

Bingo Night last December 17, 2009. Both ABAMers and Trans gathered on this

night of good food, exciting performances and great prizes.

Hooray for each department as they showcased amazing talents that defi-

nitely awed the audience. HRD started the enjoyment as they rendered a heart-

warming version of Kapamilya’s “Star ng Pasko” followed by the enchanting SE

Chorale singing their original composition “5 Days of Christmas”. Young and wild,

the Trans made the chilly Christmas air sizzling hot by Partying in the USA with the

formula (RA)2 + RA + (AH)

2 + (ROMA)2 + MA + (GA)

2 + OH + (LA)2, not a bad ro-

mance though. For the finale, CA made the rest laugh all the way through a per-

formance of the witty and hilarious “Bubblegum Story” grabbing the “Best Per-

formance Award”.

High-pitched screams and drum-like heartbeats filled the room as each

letter-number combinations were revealed during the BINGO portion. Abamer

Erielle luckily managed to make a straight line before anyone else rewarding him

with 100.00 while Trans EJ A. successfully blocked out all the boxes in his card mak-

ing him 500.00 richer.

This night of fun and amusement was made possible, a lot of thanks to Fin

department.

And for the nth time, ABAM proved that Ang Buhay Ay Masaya.

Ano ito!? ABAM

ay

Christmas Part

y!

By Armina Bali

co

6

This is how we do it!

Ang Buhay Ay Masaya. This mantra

was truly lived out last January 11 when the

members and transitionals of UP Association of

Business Administration Majors brought their

energetic and joyous spirits with them at Ninoy

Aquino Parks and Wildlife for the Team- Building

Session (TBS, dearly dubbed as Todo-Bonding

Session) of the Second Semester. The members

and transitionals, who were in white shirts,were

divided into four competitive teams namely;

Wild Amazoniuhs, Kerida, Harry’s Angels, and

Fast and Fourious.

The program

started with a prayer

from Tintin Espiritu, UP

ABAM President and

with welcoming remarks

from Diane Reyes, Hu- man

Resource and Development Vice President. Af-

terwards, each team presented their respective

cheers with pride and overflowing energy to

mark the beginning of the activity that was start-

ing to unfold.

With the air heating up literally and

figuratively, the first game set off with a blast!

Coined as “Feet On The Ground Game” , the

teams showed off their teamwork as they fought

for the best path of the game proper. When all

the teams received their instructions, everyone

proceeded to their stations to play and learn

from the games that were waiting for them.

Every time they finish a game, they were given a

material that will be needed for the last game.

Station One(All About ABAM), which

was facilitated by Marielle Baun(me), challenged

each team to rack their brains in answering trivia

about the organization and at the same time

taught them the importance of knowing ABAM

well. Under the supervision of Ron E, the players

enjoyed the Algorithm March in Station Two

which tested each person’s cooperation in the

group. Group Strategy is definitely something

unforgettable about Station Three (Water Pass).

With Miles Ramos as the station manager, the

teams tried their best to transfer as much water

as they can to the empty bottle using their

hands. On the other hand, ABAM members and

tansitionals’ creative juices were once again

poured out as they transformed paper clips into

some- thing big and won-

derful in Station

Four(Bigger and

Better) with the

oversight of Raena

Panganiban as the

station manager. Station Five in-

volved plastic bottles, blindfolds, and right

choices as one person guided and instructed

another as a partner to choose the right bottle

and earn positive points in a game facilitated by

Jo Joson and Roy Nacional. When the teams

advanced to the final station, they were equally

amused and excited because the game requires

ingenuity and creativity to be able to avoid the

egg from being broken after dropping it. The

teams were even able to come up with amusing

cheers before the egg drop, and the

game ended with actually no eggs

broken! What bet-

ter way it is to end

with a game where

everyone is in-

cluded, spelling UP

Association of Busi-

ness Administration

Majors with a twist.

Surely, anyone who

attended the event

will attest that it is

indeed a game to

remember.

Just like

any other articles about such a com-

petitive event, I know the readers, especially

those who were not able to come to the event,

want to know what team championed the

games; but who cares? Each team cheered,

played, and laughed during the

event. All the teams are win-

ners. Everyone is happy, and

that is what matters most.

Ang Buhay Ay Masaya.:) 7

TBS 2010: Ang

Buhay

TBS 2010: Ang

Buhay

TBS 2010: Ang

Buhay

TBS 2010: Ang

Buhay

Ay Masaya

Ay Masaya

Ay Masaya

Ay Masaya

By Marielle

Baun

A taste of competitio

n

Last January 16, 2010, the Special Events

Department held the Corporate Courtship

101: Events and sponsors, guaranteed! , a

seminar on events management and spon-

sorship

marketing

that aims

to hone

the stu-

dents’

skills and prepare them for their respective

projects. The semi-

nar took place in P&G room and

was almost half a day. Stu-

dents from different organi-

zations were invited in the

said event. Though only a

number of them were able

to attend because the event

was on the exam week, it was a

very interactive activity. The

room was filled with students

who were eager to listen and to

learn from the distinguished

speakers.

The first speaker was an Ateneo

de Manila University student

who then transferred to Coven-

try University in England where

she received

her Diploma

in Higher

Education in

Culture,

Communication and Media. Currently, Ms.

Karen Sales is an Account Manager for

Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide. She

talked about events management in a very

detailed manner. She emphasized on the

preparation process of handling events. She

was a dynamic speaker and she easily got

the interest of the listeners

through her jolly way of

speaking.

“They need you as much as you need

them.” This was the first statement made

by the second speaker. Prof. Raymund

Acedera had quite a rapport with the audi-

ence. He is an independent marketing and

advertising professional. He’s also one of

the most exceptional faculty members of

the UP College of Business Administration,

who taught BA 177 the previous

years. His passion for his profession

was clearly seen by the way he

shared his knowledge and wisdom

on sponsorship marketing.

The last speaker who did the integra-

tion of both events management and

sponsorship marketing was the youngest

of them. At the age of 25, Mr. Mesh

Villanueva is already working 3 different

jobs. His jobs offer him the adequate

experience to talk about both of the

topics. He gave examples about the re-

cent events that he was able to manage.

He was able to share different problems

he experienced and provided possible

approaches to them. Everyone in

the room took down

notes and was all ears.

After the last speaker,

there was an invitation

for all listeners to ask about the topics. It

was indeed an exciting exchange of ideas

from the speakers and the listeners.

Students who came to the seminar went

back to their respective organizations ready

and excited to handle events. They are not

afraid of getting a no from companies. In-

stead, they are more confident and hopeful

this time. All because of the knowledge they

got from the seminar.

8

CAN I GET A YES THIS TIME? By Darz Joguilon

Do I smell February?

9

FEEDING PROGRAM (Directors: Marjorie Castro, Chamie Datoc, Meilyn Ip)

Whoa! Execore ‘09-‘10 has reached the

finish line. It’s time to pass on the leader-

ship baton to the next batch of officers,

Execore ‘10-‘11.

Here are the newest additions to the

ABAM walk of Fame:

President:

Chloe Matthea Ocampo

Internals Vice President:

Harry Bert Tajo

Externals Vice President:

Marck Humphrey Cura

Human Resources and Development Department Vice President:

Mary Jesselle Diaz

Finance Department Vice President:

Benson Buera

Community Affairs Department Vice President:

Grace Ann Lagman

Special Events Department Vice President:

John Albert Ramirez Congratulations to the new ABAM Execore!

Last January 18, the Community Af-

fairs Department successfully con-

ducted its feeding program entitled

Ray of Hope: Mission Nutrition as

part of the celebration of the week-

long celebration of ABAM’s on its

19th

year. The event was held at the

Balara Elementary School and was

initially planned to cater to 300 grade

school students only but we were

fortunate enough to provide food for

more than 300 students. The ABAM

family served a nutritious meal con-

sisting of pansit, bread and fruit

juice. The members and transitionals

worked hand in hand from coordinat-

ing, assisting, entertaining, serving

and even up to cleaning up after the

event.

THEY’VE GOT

THE EX FACTOR!

You’re the Eat!

Got the Ex-Factor?

10

ABAM

Wee

kAB

AM W

eek

ABAM

Wee

kAB

AM W

eek

ABAM Week Day 1: On Fire: The UP

ABAM Metrowide ScavHunt

ABAM Week Day 3: January 19, 2010 RADIANCE: The Gallery Launch Gallery launch! ABAM SHOW-

TIME!

11

ABAM Week Day 4: January 20, 2010 BRAVO GUSTO: The Grand Pakain

ABAM Week Day5: Open Tambayan

(Jan. 21, 2010)

ABAM week day 6: Jan. 22, 2010 GUIDING LIGHT: Thanksgiving Mass

ABAM Week Day7: Jan. 23, 2010 Afterglow – The ABAM Culminight

12

would like to thank the

following sponsors:

13

would like to thanks the

following sponsors:

ARBITER

All rights reserved

© 2010