Power Play

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                     Have you ever thought of democracy or autocracy affecting dynamics of musical notes, in the instruments and the musicians who play them? We all expect quartets (or other musical groups even) to produce good harmonies. But to do that, some power play has been seen vital in its creation.

                The Royal Academy of Music teamed up with the University of Birmingham to examine the implications of the timing of musicians relative to the other members of the group, in this case, a string quartet. The experiment involved the participation of “two well-established groups of chamber musicians”, who were given the same musical piece to play. The results reveal that there can either be democracy or autocracy in a quartet. This hierarchy or lack thereof (as the article states, democracy in music) was observed through the timing and tempo of each musician in the group. in one of the groups that were tested, the scientists observed that there was one musician who seemed to be ruling over the group, as the other three adjusted their timing according to that seemingly dominant musician’s timing. On the other quartet however, they were described as more democratic, as the members were said to “[alter] their timing equally”.

                Surprisingly, the article also reveals that the musicians were not aware of this dynamic in their creation of harmonies. This dynamic or organisation in the quartet, the musicians suggest may have something to do with the musical piece they are playing.

                After learning of the occurrence of such power play within their quartet, will they still be able to create harmonies? Or has this put some suspect to their supposedly untarnished relationship? And which group – the “democratic” or “autocratic” – produces better music?

Source:

Morelle, R. (2014, January 29). Hidden hierarchy in string quartets revealed. BBC. Retreived January 29, 2014, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25934323

"Paper, Plastic or Neither"

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Plastic bags are gradually being banned not only in the Philippines, but according to the article, so are municipalities of Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Austin and Honolulu in the United States. Manufacturers of plastic bags (in the U.S. at least) are now hiring environmental scientists who could still establish the case for the use of this thing pertained to as one of the great contributors to pollution. 

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Today, in the Philippines, in place of plastic bags, paper bags and reusable ones are being offered in shops, grocery stores, malls, even in fast-food chains and restaurants. The article mentions however, that these reusable bags actually “require more energy to make”. Come to think of it however, if every individual would diligently bring their reusable bags every time they step out of their houses and use them for their purchases, then the production of these “eco bags” could significantly be less than the amount of plastic bags being produced. To add to that, plastic bags take hundreds of years before they disintegrate, while most, people could only use once. The shift to paper bags and eco bags felt like a hassle the first time; but people are now slowly getting the hang of it. They become even more enticing to use, what with the different colours they could come in. We cannot stop global warming or climate change anymore. But we can still do, even little steps (especially done collectively), to somehow mitigate its effects.

Source:

Pickert, K. (2014, January 20). Paper, plastic or neither. Time, 183(2), 11.

UP Land Misuse

The forum entitled “Probing the UP Land Use” held last January 10 was an important initiative and manifestation of the University of the Philippine-Diliman’s community’s awareness, sensitivity and vigilance regarding, especially, events that take place within the university itself. I have only been to the UP Town Center twice. The restaurants look good and seem to offer sumptuous menus, but their prices look good as well. The kind of a good price that I will only be willing to go back if I will be with my parents, so I will not have to pay for my own meal, with most of my allowance already reserved for photocopying readings. I pass by it every day and I also observed that it is mostly people from outside UP who fill its spaces; which can also be said of the UP-Ayala Techno Hub (understandably, since it is flanked by call center agencies). But what is not clear is the contribution these private establishments have to the university’s mission, especially in the academic core or aspect. Aside from being a leisure place for students (and actually its market, I believe, extending beyond that), which is just an added or ‘stated’ purpose of it, what and how else could these contribute into making UP a conducive environment for learning and in promoting academic excellence?

Professor Alonzo, one of the two speakers in the forum, mentioned that there has long been private sector participation in the university. These would include the little kiosks and cafeterias spread all over the campus. These however, obviously pale in comparison with the Ayala establishments on UP Diliman land; in terms of potential and actual revenue generated and potential contribution it could have to the university and its community. Since these are big establishments, perhaps we are entitled to expect more responsibility from them. Since these are big establishments, the more that the purposes of these Ayala establishments should have been probed and made sure that they are aligned with the “academic mission” of the national university. I remember conducting a group interview with the “Samahan ng mga Manininda sa UP Campus Inc.” last school year for a research paper. I learned that their position in the university is actually threatened, with an annual requirement of renewal for permits and proposals for abolition of their ‘small’ businesses within the campus. Compared with the big establishments, the small kiosks have always been helpful and accessible, and are more practical for students to go to.

Professor Taguiwalo on the other hand discussed the distorted supposed image and accordance given to UP as the ‘premier state university’ (now just stated in RA 9500 to be a “national university”), with UP succumbing to the Ayala or privatization trap. She also mentioned the strong encouragement of President Aquino regarding revenue generation for self-sufficiency of colleges and universities, because the government cannot fully and sufficiently provide a budget for SUCs. I would like to reiterate sentiments forwarded during the forum, that having insufficient budget to allocate to SUCs is not believable at all. The Napoles/PDAF scam is clear evidence of corruption and (maybe even deliberate) irresponsibility on the part of elected officials; of wasted tax being paid by Filipinos, rich and poor. It is the state’s responsibility to provide good education for and to its citizens. UP exists for that purpose and shall continue to do so, and be reinforced by the state that it may completely fulfil its mission.

The Ayala establishments have already been built and operational, whether they were permitted with consultation with other members of the UP-Diliman community is an issue, but a time machine has not been invented to reverse these consequential actions. Perhaps for now, we could only continue to be vigilant about their operation, and push for transparency and accountability. Make sure that revenue generated from these establishments will be allocated and will be translated into things concrete that will benefit students, professors and the whole UP-Diliman community. 

The Universe Can Now Be Measured to 1% Accuracy

In the past, it has always been difficult to accurately measure the distances between things in the universe due to it being so big. However, a team of researchers on the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey can now measure distances between galaxies with 1 percent accuracy.

The researchers used things called baryon acoustic oscillations as a kind of galactic ruler. This generated an exact value of measurement, giving the possibility of measuring huge distances precisely.

This development has led to another step in getting a clearer picture on how big the universe is.

Article: http://gizmodo.com/the-universe-can-now-be-measured-to-1-accuracy-1497764992