Here’s a more updated version of the FAQ. You may ask, discuss or share your Kalai experiences there.

Kalayaan Residence Hall is a freshman coeducational dormitory of UP Diliman. It houses more than 500 freshies from all around the country. The dormitory is under the Office of the Student Housing. I answered some of the frequently asked questions about the dormitory.

Q: I have a laptop. Is there Internet in the dormitory?
A: Hi incoming freshie! I am happy to inform you that all the dormitories managed by the Office of the Student Housing now have Internet access. Is it 24 hours? Yes it is! Another thing, you must abide by the Acceptable Use Policy of IT Systems of the UP System. This means no p0rn and t0rrent downloads. Hahaha.

Q: How many people stay in one room?
A: Two. You and your roommate!

Q: It’s coeducational. Is there a chance that I’ll have a roommate of opposite sex?
A: UP is a liberated school (everyone’s idea is well-respected). BUT, there’s no way you can have a roommate of opposite sex. There’s a BOYS and GIRLS wing in the dormitory and they’re separated by the lobby.

Q: How much do I pay?
A: Basically, you pay P500.00 a month for lodging. Add some P2000 to P3000 for food and around P10 to P200 for electricity depending on your appliances, per month.

Q: Is there a canteen in the dormitory?
A: Yes, there’s a food concessionaire on the mess hall so you won’t have to hunt for food each night. The canteen serves food on certain hours only.

Q: What are the other facilities of the dorm?
A: Well, the dorm has the following: a piano on the TV area, a big TV, bunch of chairs and tables that can be used for group studying, a handful of couches, a basketball court, a table tennis table, a volleyball court, a mess hall slash canteen, comfort rooms for residents and non-residents, one water dispenser for all of its 500 residents, a gigantic UP map and a lot more. We used to have a conference room and a multipurpose hall but the Office of the Student Housing occupies the space now.

Q: I have other questions. Where will I send my questions?
A: Just comment below and I’ll gladly answer it. If it’s an interesting one, it might get posted in here.

Send in your questions now and they’ll be answered in no time!

The Kalayaan Residence Hall Association House Council is still studying its participation to the University Student Council-initiated Manifesto of Unity Asserting Students’ Right to Dormitories.

The Manifesto was discussed during the first (informal) meeting of the new set of elected House Council officers held yesterday evening.

Some of the points were raised by the quorum regarding the Manifesto are as follows:

• It is unfair if the residents sign such a Manifesto without hearing the side of the Office of the Student Housing and the Office of Vice-Chancellor for Student Affairs – University-administered offices involved in the Manifesto.
• The members of the Kalayaan Residence Hall Association cannot compare the previous Rules and Regulations Governing Residence Halls in UP Diliman with the one being used now, which as claimed in the Manifesto has caused grave violations and rights and welfare of dorm residents and aspiring dorm residents, as it is their first year in the University.

With the points stated above, the House Council decided to study the Manifesto further before taking pertinent actions.
The Manifesto was given to the House Council’s Vice-Chairperson for External Affairs for discussion and support by a University Student Council during an informal assembly of different dorm representatives held at Sampaguita Residence Hall.

For a copy of the entire Manifesto, check after the jump. Continue reading “Kalai House Council, studying participation to Manifesto of Unity Asserting Students’ Rights to Dormitories” »

Today marks another milestone in my life…

Two meetings are in store for me – my first and second meeting as a Vice Chairperson for External Affairs.

The first meeting in line is an ACD (Association of Concerned Dormitories) meeting at the Sampaguita Residence Hall this 4pm. I will be with the Kalayaan Residence Hall House Council and former Pisay SMC Student Government President Kiboy Tabada. We will be the representatives of Kalai.

Next in line is the 1st Kalai House Council meeting, a meeting with the House Council officers, Corridor Representatives and House Council candidates. The meeting will be held on Kalai – 7pm.

Weeeee, I’m so excited to represent Kalai for the first time.

Yesterday was the elections of the Kalayaan Residence Hall Association House Council. I was supposed to live-blog about it yesterday but I was too anxious and I knew no one cares about it.

The election process started at exactly 8am and ended by 8pm. It was a computerized election. The system used was the Halalan, an open-source software spearheaded by UnPLUG or the University of the Philippines Linux Users’ Group. The system ran on PHP on an Apache server.

Right after the elections, most of the candidates (including me) were excited of the results. Most of us stayed on the TV area as it was near the conference room (place where the elections took place) and the counter. We were waiting for the magic time, 10pm – scheduled time of release of results. While waiting, we watched the opening of the Beijing Olympics 2008. We were all looking for ways to calm ourselves down.

The clock struck the magic time – the results remained unannounced. About 10 minutes before the hour of 11, an exciting announcement was made. And it was… The announcement said, “the results of the elections will be announced in 15 minutes”. Our heartbeats were like drumrolls, even beating faster as a function of time.

Toink-toink-toink-toink-togoinks-toink-togoinks. Finally, the moment has come. Kuya Mike, my RA and an Elections Committee member, approached the gigantic television ceasing the Olympic spirit. The results were on his hands. Everyone seemed so eager to hear the results. And the winners were announced.

The results were announced from the lowest to the highest position. The anxiety rose as the positions level-up. Until it was my moment – it was the announcement of the winner for the Vice Chancellor for External Affairs. As I heard my blog’s domain name (Conrad Miguel), adrenaline rushed into my system. Yey, at last the once loser won.

I am now holding the second highest position in the Kalayaan Residence Hall Association House Council and the second highest position in the Basement Boys (our corridor). Kalai Life of more than 500 fellow residents are on our (the new house council) hands.

They chose me. 206 Kalai residents loves me – 216 chose either of my two opponents – 62 chose not to choose – almost 50 did not vote.

I won’t bore you longer, that’s all for now from Kalai’s Vice Chairperson for External Affairs! Mabuhay ang pag-asa ng bayan!

Disclaimer: This post could be very boring for some, forgive me. I won’t stop myself from posting this as this is my blog anyway. I own it, I pay for it — and the sweetest part I earn from it.

Five days to go before the Kalayaan Residence Hall Association House Council Elections – four days left for campaign.

As I’ve said on my previous post, I am running for the position of Vice Chairperson for External Affairs. Some of the functions of the Vice Chairperson for External Affairs as stipulated in the Association’s Constitution are: to assume Chairperson duties in case of the Chairperson’s absence or disability to perform his/her duties; to represent Kalayaan Residence Hall Association on meetings, forums and other events that has direct participation to the Association and many more. It’s the second highest position in the Council, next to the Chairperson.

Last Friday to Saturday (9pm of Friday to 10pm of Saturday), we the candidates attended a grilling activity by the Election Committee. The grilling activity is a 1 vs Election Committee close-door activity). Each one of us were grilled for at least 30 minutes (some had it for more or less an hour). Waiting was like hell as only one candidate is grilled at a time. In my case, I waited from 9pm to about 5:30am. The fun part while waiting was that we had the chance to bond with other candidates — including our “enemies”! Wahehehe. But honestly, most of us did not take our “political enemyship” (what a term!!) personally. I won’t explain what happened inside the grilling room as I don’t want to spoil the experience to the next year’s candidates (who know’s they might read this!). The reactions to the grilling activity were diverse — some cried, some did not, some went crazy, etc. But to sum it up, it was very helpful. It made us realize a lot of things — practical things we should know in leading. Continue reading “Halalang Kalai” »

Yesterday evening, I officially filed my candidacy for the position Vice Chairperson for External Affairs of the Kalayaan House Council and attended the first candidates’ briefing.

The Vice Chairperson for External Affairs is the second highest position in the Council. I ran not because of peer pressure but my willingness to serve the entire Kalayaan body.

For now, I am busy for my General Plans of Action to be submitted tonight. An on-the-spot essay writing will follow the submission of our GPOA.

For the statistics, 26 candidates (out of 520 to 530 residents) ran for the six open positions.

I’ll keep this blog updated about the elections.

Good luck to me.

Hello!

Yesterday evening, I just lost the Corridor Representative elections. The whole process took about three hours, more than two hours of which were spent for the presentation and interrogation of the candidates.

The presentation of vision and initial plans and integration was done a candidate after the other. I was the second one to present. While waiting and after my turn, I had the chance to have a heart-to-heart talk with my two other opponents. During our talks, there was no traces of uber-competitiveness. We talked just as we did before.

During my presentation, I was a little bit shy at first but eventually conquered it as my speech progressed. The usual questions were raised and I’m proud to have answered them wholeheartedly.

Honesty, I felt I was winning so there was little bitterness when I knew the results. I’m bitter of not getting the position, NOT because Polo got it. In fact, me and Polo ate the food we ordered together.

I lost the Corridor Representative position but had the Assistant Corridor Representative for External Affairs as a consolation. Wuhuhuhu.

I’m considering running a position for the Kalayaan Residence Hall House Council. I’ll promise to myself that no one will influence my decision of running. Weeee, exciting!

Anyway, during the integorration I’ve promised that I’ll have to change for the better if elected. Since I was not, therefore I won’t. Hahahahahahahahahaha. Tuloy ang ingay ni Mikko!

[made this post right after the elections.]

Sorry guys but I have to drown you with some boring dorm corridor stuff.

About a week ago, I have signified my intention to run as a corridor representative for Basement Boys in Kalayaan Residence Hall (dun nagsimula ang Eraserheads). To date, only two of us, I and Polo, have confirmed our candidacy. Juan is still hesitant to run — still have not confirmed his intention.

Honestly, this is my second time to run for an elected position. The other one as a vice president for the dorm council back in Pisay but I was not serious back then.

Just this day, a neighbor from the adjacent room did a very noble act for me to the point he annoyed me. He made 15 campaign posters for me and posted it on almost every wall of the corridor, floor’s comfort rooms and stairs. His act of fooling around embarassed me, that is how I feel on my very part.

Here are some pictures of the campaign posters:

A Publicity Committee member signing the poster for posting.

The Poster as seen from outside the dorm.

I am not angry to anyone, I am just annoyed of the fact that he posted such a number of posters without my prior knowledge.

I am still running for the position for the information of everybody. I promise not to be a victim instead a victor of circumstance,