A LEAPSER’S GUIDETO THE UNIVERSE

THE FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY SPECIAL ISSUE

A MESSAGEFROM THE CAPTAIN

Excelsior!

Warm greetings and a big hello to everyone! Now listen up, this is your captain speaking.

Where were we?

More than nine years ago, a fledgling group of student Physics majors worked on an idea to build the premier organization for Physics and Physics majors. Thus, SAMPA was born, the “Samahan ng mga Mag-aaral ng Pisika sa Ateneo.” As the years went by, changes were made and the era of LeaPs dawned in. With this, our doors opened to the LS community, ready to accommodate and welcome all those inspired and interested to love the mother science.

Moving on and around three years ago, the Physics organization was also quite visibly different than the one you have before you today. The end of the school year that followed was marked by great change- an increase in activity, a maintained visibility, and a shower of hype and interest in the organization. It was said that we had “woken up” from a sort of “slumber” that the organization had been having. Today, the organization is nine years old.

Where are we now?

Welcome to LeaPs! This year marks our ninth anniversary of fighting gravity, and we its veterans know very well what kind of a powerful foe it can be. If not fought the smart way, its pull on us can be quite fixing; before you know it, we’ll be in a rut! In retrospect, however, we have been in a sort of a rut for the past years, and with the advent of you, yourself, and a revitalized organization interest, we can finally set sail for the stars. Where are we now? We’re on the launch pad, silly!

This First General Assembly marks the launching of our vessel, LeaPs's endeavours for this academic year of 2012-2013. As you board the metaphorical spaceship that is our Organization's Enterprise, we its officers welcome you with open arms and wide smiles, excited and hopeful for the year ahead. As veterans in this yearly voyage - the same one that you yourself have just set on your shoulders - we will be working with you and doing our utmost best all the way to make this year epic! We’ve got scores of ideas, doodads, activities, and preparations to get this starship sailing for the year and beyond!

Where are we going?

As a young organization continuously seeking and aiming for growth and improvement, it seems just apt then that the thrust for this year is “change for the better!” LeaPs’s 10th birthday is just around the corner, and preparing for its milestone year is half the fun! We’re headed for great things, and we’d love to have you join us.

Some of you may have already been wondering why this event is named so - Theia Impact. It was particularly chosen not because the name sounded cool, but rather that it afforded us a metaphor embodying what we hoped the First General Assembly to be all about. Currently the most favoured scientific theory for the formation of the moon, the Great Impact Theory tells of a massive Mars-like body that collided with Earth around 4.5 billion years ago. The resulting collision left us the legacy of the moon we all know and love today. In a sense, this is exactly what we're all about right now - not the collision per se, but it is the coming together, the collaboration of big things - us, our ideas, our efforts, everything - to leave an impact! This is our Theia Impact.

From this, we hope to fling ourselves in the right direction. Where again exactly? Well, where would you like to go? Use your imagination. Semper ad maiora.

How do we get there?

Our fight against gravity is a collective effort, and we need all of you on board and on deck to help us out. The Enterprise, with all its glory, will only sail smoothly if all its members are there to get down and dirty with the rest of us. LeaPs’s defining tagline has always been “Take the leap. Defy gravity.” We’re here to show that defying gravity is something anybody can do, and that it’s all just a matter of attitude- your attitude.

To fellow veterans of LeaPs, we're glad to have you back on board! To the freshmen, greenhorns and new members, WELCOME! You're in for a blast. This is an exciting time.

ACADEMIC AFFAIRSEver in the need of help with your school work? Caught in some mental confusion and can’t fully grasp the whole discussion of an oh-so important lesson? Don’t fret cause the Academics Committee of LeaPs is here to help.

LeaPs’s Academics Committee mainly focuses on projects and services inclined towards a greater knowledge and understanding of physics. We offer tutorial sessions for physics and some math classes, aiming to aid our fellow physics enthusiasts having a hard time with their subjects. Aside from that, we offer sample long tests and e-books to better furnish our constituents with the information they need.

Moreover, the physics we promote is not limited to that discussed in the different classes offered. In our Kindergarten Talks, we discuss interesting physics topics not included in a typical lecture. We also have a Physics Quiz Bee where we invite non-Physics majors with physics classes to a friendly competition regarding physics concepts.

COMMUNICATIONS & MEDIAHey LeaPsers! Welcome aboard the enterprise! Get ready for an entire schoolyear of adventure, fun and science!

To our crew at the Communications and Media committee, we'll be needing all hands on deck as we take charge of controlling the information flow in the organization. We'll need all eyes, ears, mouths and hands to relay every bit of info we can to keep every LeaPser informed. For the creative LeaPser, this is the perfect place for you! Get a chance to make promos and document LeaPs events to add in your portfolio!

We hope you all learn the love the organization and service as a whole throughout this schoolyear. You'll encounter a lot of opportunities to level up in life and it's just a matter of taking the leap!

INTERNAL AFFAIRSThe Internals Committee is geared towards smoothening out the dynamics within the organization and is also aimed at several important points on leadership, member empowerment, member relations, human resources and personal enhancement. For a more effective working milieu for the entirety of the organization, the committee works towards cohesive membership-based projects in order to achieve its goals. Its flagship projects include the Sportsfest, Team Building Seminar, General Assemblies and the House Cup which serve as a support system conduit for bonding, all of which help maintain a good environment in the organization for its advocacy for physics appreciation and excellence. In short, the committee’s job is to create an enjoyable, memorable and fulfilling org experience to the LeaPs members.

SPECIAL PROJECTSWooooh! Welcome to LeaPs! And welcome (for the lucky few) to the Special Projects Committee, where we make things happen.As a purely project based committee, we the members are bound to have a knack for project management, to be taught throughout the year by the most appropriate teacher, experience.

Handling projects may seem stressful, but the satisfaction and fulfillment garnered from seeing a project through - from planning to execution to the post-project celebrations; achieving the goals and gaining so much more, will make it all worth it: for you, the entire team, and our constituents.

They say that what makes greatness is starting something that lives after you. And at the end of this year, more than the successful projects, more than the friendships and relationships built, I do hope to leave with you all the passion for service that is Special Projects.

VP HANI FRANCISCO & AVP LEAN PALMA

VP CHI PUNZALAN & AVP CHRISTINE SAAVEDRA

VP PEARLY TAWALI & AVP SUNG JOON PARK

VP ANDREW GAWIDAN & AVP ALEXIS PASCUAL

FINANCEWelcome to the Ateneo League of Physicists!

This year, we bring LeaPs to greater heights as we push the envelope with even bigger and more exciting projects—and we look forward to your help and the boost from your insights that wil surely enrich the plans that the officers had laid down. Behind all these, the Office of the Finance Officer makes sure that we have the financial juice to propel these projects to success.

Want to know how the org’s money ebbs and flows? Be part of our finance team and be Finance Officer of the Month or help out in designing our bi-semestral financial reports! After all the experience you will surely gain, you’ll be an expert at navigating Ateneo’s circuitous financial processes.

Without efficient and effective spending, financial poverty—like gravity—is sure to pull us down. So lend us a hand this school year!

"Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out." -Robert Collier

As on officer of LeaPs, I would like to welcome everyone, senior and rookie members alike, to a new school year at LeaPs. The year ahead bears many challenges and obsta-cles for our organization. We aim high because we want to achieve something. It may be a tall order, but I believe in our organization.As a Marketer, I would like to welcome those who would want to become part of the newMarketing Committee. I believe that marketing is a field for all, no matter the back-ground or experience one has. This field is not expected to be the organization’s forte. We are entering uncharted territory, but just like what the anecdote has mentioned, we can be successful bit by bit. In business, success is the auspicious goal any manager aspires and strives to reach for. But, in order to get there, a tedious journey must be undertaken. I have to admit, in my years as a marketer, endeavouring to reach that goal has not been an easy task. But this is what I have to say: we can reach for that success together. Take the extra leap!

MARKETING

FIND US ONLINE!http://xkcd.com/356/O

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visit http://ateneo-leaps.tumblr.comfollow @AteneoLeaPs on Twitter& Join the FB Group atfacebook.com/groups/AteneoLeaPsGot questions, ideas or feelings?Just contact Chi at 0917 853 6914or e-mail us at ateneoleaps@gmail.com

FINANCE OFFICER HANZ CABANES

MARKETING OFFICER HARVEEN ANG