Wednesday triple treat

An anticipated hectic day turned out to be one fine day....
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by Philipina A. Marcelo


I had a great Wednesday this week!

Wednesday is usually drab for me. It’s the middle of the week, and not much is usually happening. So, when I got Wednesday as my free day in the University this semester, I was happy! Although it meant I would have to show up for a half-day work on Saturday, the thought of sleeping in, spending three hours at the foot spa where I get foot scrub and massage and then getting my feet wrapped in warm paraffin before getting a pedicure while I devour the latest works of my fave novelists, and then getting a facial while I doze off afterwards, and waking my senses up with the wonderful smell of freshly brewed coffee and the sweet flavor of cinnamon in freshly baked bread roll, both consumed leisurely in my fave cozy coffee shop, and then end my day watching the amazing Manila sunset – all in the middle of the week really sounded like the very best deal for an academic con scientist like myself! And so, when the going gets tough on Mondays and Tuesdays, I always remind myself, “hey, Wednesday is just around the corner, baby!” And, it always cheered me up.

So far, so good! And then came the invitations from Fulbright/Philippine-American Educational Foundation (PAEF) and my Alumni Association for meetings, and the confirmation of my eye check-up – all on a Wednesday, in three different parts of Mega-Manila! I winced at the thought of missing my free day especially that I was anticipating insane Monday and Tuesday, which I was right! So, I went to bed on Tuesday night wincing. Little did I know that I was in for a triple treat… and I’m not just talking about the spa kind of treat either!

First, after a few morning crunches I did a quick check at my e-mailbox. I couldn’t help but squeal excitedly at what I found! A friend of mine sent me a weblink to a book entitled, “Handbook of Membrane Separations: Chemical, Pharmaceutical, Food, and Biotechnological Applications”, where I co-wrote one chapter with my PhD advisor during the last year of my graduate stint at Cornell. It’s finally out! I hurriedly checked out the link, and there it was – my name in the by-line of one of the chapters! All of a sudden, the memories of the painful but exhilarating experience of going through volumes and volumes of technical papers to put that chapter together day in and day out for almost 12 long months, while I labored on my dissertation, came rushing back to me! Just thinking about those days brought pain that was almost physical. And then, I stared again at the webpage, and what I felt was pure joy! There it was… almost one year of my life that I thought went to waste. I scrolled up and down the page… reading the bylines was like reading the Who’s Who in membrane technology… and my name got inserted in it – sweet!

The good news that greeted my day made me almost forgot about my unfolding busy day until my phone rang, just before 10:00 in the morning. It was my College classmate, reminding me of our meeting in the evening. An incoming call interrupted our conversation. I said goodbye to her and picked up the other line. It was the eye clinic clerk, reminding me that my appointment is in one hour, which means that I would need to fly to get there on time! I looked at the pair of polka dot pajamas I was still wearing and winced!

By some stroke of miracle, I got to the clinic only three minutes late, still managing to fix myself to look decent… and I didn’t fly either! After paying for my new pair of contact lenses, I exhaled and let myself dream of Thai food for lunch, after all, I have a reason to celebrate! There was a good one close by. And then my phone made a tooting sound – a text message. It was from my student. They needed my signature immediately on a document for our activity on Monday. It can’t wait another day. He was sorry he forgot to give it to me yesterday. The University is 45 minutes away from the clinic – when the Manila traffic is being kind! I sighed, looked at my watch and winced! Goodbye Thai lunch, hello take-out cold sandwich!

I got to the University with only an hour and a half before my Fulbright appointment… and the meeting venue is about an hour away! I looked for my student, he was looking for me, too… we missed each other three times… 15 minutes gone. I winced! I decided to sit in one spot. He found me. I signed the documents and ran! Again, by some stroke of miracle, I was early by 5 minutes for the Fulbright meeting. I didn’t bother to analyze how that happened. I just raised my face to heaven and said a little prayer of thanks. It turned out, I was bound to receive a bonus, too!

The Fulbright event was a welcome reception for the new Public Affairs Officer (PAO) of the

Fulbright... and experience like no other.

US Embassy in Manila, Mr. Richard W. Nelson. Being the new PAO, Mr. Nelson will also serve as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of PAEF for the next three years. Thus, the PAEF welcome reception. As usual, it was great to see the wonderful people of PAEF, and as always, it was a delight to socialize with the Fulbrighters. It felt like being put in the same room as some of the very best minds that you can find in the Philippine archipelago – always a humbling experience, but awesome nonetheless! The conversations are always interesting, engaging and absolutely absorbing... not to mention hilarious – even without the help of crisp champagne, mind you! But that wasn’t the second treat I was talking about.

After all the welcome remarks for Mr. Nelson and his wife were said by representatives of the different PAEF groups of scholars, Mr. Nelson walked behind the podium to cordially acknowledge the warm welcome. Apparently, this is his third time to be in the Philippines with his family on an official mission, having finished one recently in Cameroon. Having travelled all over the globe, he talked fondly about how he thinks of his family as the micro-United Nations. He was born in Alaska – back in the days when Alaska was just a US territory rather than a State, which makes him wonder often enough if he was really born an American. His wife is a Filipina. His eldest son was born in South Africa, and his youngest in Japan. He said he is happy to be back in Manila, where he feels at home – he and his kids (and his wife, of course) even speak the language! He congratulated all the Fulbright and PAEF alumni. And then, without a hint, he made special mention of those who chose to take a career in the Academia. He said he commends those scholars who chose Academia for their career path in spite of the many opportunities in front of them and even when they knew that it is not as financially rewarding compared with other career paths. He made mention of the on-going Presidential campaign in the US, and how different issues are being debated upon in the US today. He said that the candidates and the electorates may continue to argue about which issue is most important, and some would say economic policies are paramount concern, while others would say that strengthening international relations and diplomacy should be addressed first. Others would insist that research on renewable energy and environmental issues must be put on a fast track. Still, others would insist that immigration policies must be at the top of the agenda, while others would argue that national security must be addressed first and foremost. And yet, when you listen closely, addressing any, or all, of the issues all boil down to education. He said that a base knowledge should be established through sound educational system in order for people to actually come up with policies that will work in the sustainable future. And, in developing countries like the Philippines, education plays a critical role in digging themselves out of poverty, and start moving forward. Therefore, bringing education to all the citizens of any country must be a priority. Now, this is a man who has served many places in the world as a public official, bringing in his firsthand knowledge to us. I know he was not just being cute. Needless to say, I agree with Mr. Nelson 100%. This is why, regardless of all the disadvantages, I chose a career in the Academia.

I skipped dinner at the PAEF reception to try and catch my Alumni meeting on the other side of town, which also included dinner. I left the PAEF Office feeling I didn’t need any food, I got the sustenance I needed – the affirmation that all the sleepless nights creating and re-creating teaching materials is all worth it. What a treat!

The traffic en route to my University where my Alumni meeting was going to be held was quite burdensome. It was on standstill several times along the way. The slow moving traffic brought my attention to the malnourished street children in their raggedy clothes walking aimlessly in the light shower, zigzagging the vehicles caught up in the slow-moving traffic. By the emptiness in their faces and the seeming desperation of their situation at so young an age, it’s quite painful to imagine how the next years of their lives, if any, would be like. Mr. Nelson’s voice kept resonating in my ears. Education is needed to dig us out of poverty. Those kids should be at home, studying for the next day of school. In the years to come, they should be rushing to their alumni meeting from a Fulbright scholars’ meeting, too! All of a sudden, my hectic day became so much more of a blessing rather than a burden. Once again, I raised my face to heaven and murmured a prayer of thanks.

Education is needed to dig us out of poverty. It kept humming inside my head, building my resolve to stay focused on my goals as an Academician. All of a sudden, the traffic eased out, and the road to my University went by in a sweeping speed. And then, in the midst of the Manila frenzied noise and twinkling lights amidst the gathering darkness, the serene blue cross atop the administration building of my University - the 397 years old Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, the Catholic University of the Philippines, emerged, as if to guide me where to head to. It was such a beautiful sight to behold, it made me want to rush to it.

I arrived in the University only 15 minutes late for the two-hour consultative meeting with the Chemical Engineering Department alumni. The Department will hold its 75th founding anniversary in AY 2009-2010. “Brilliance Across Generations” was going to be the theme. It will be the Department’s Diamond Anniversary, and therefore, we thought it was fitting to pay tribute to its alumni whose accomplishments is making the Department shine like a brilliant piece of exquisitely cut diamond. The Department has lined up several activities, and that evening was the first gathering to let everyone know of the plans and encourage their participation. Indeed, the alumni represented several generations of brilliant Thomasian Engineers from different fields imaginable, each wearing a beautifully designed button that said, “Proud to be a Thomasian Engineer”!

Being late, I didn’t want to attract attention, so I tiptoed into the dining room where everybody is socializing over sumptuous dinner in preparation for the meeting, which will be held in the Conference Hall, adjacent to the room. One person saw me, yelled my name…

and before I could even respond, there was a mob of former students greeting me like I was

University of Santo Tomas... Pontifical, Catholic.

Mother Teresa or something! Many of the younger ones, of course, looked familiar… I remember all the childlike faces in the Unit Operations Laboratory and in the lecture rooms where we were all “battered” by Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics, Fluid Mechanics, Chemical Kinetics and Reactor Design, and Numerical Methods! But, of course, judging from how all of them looked important in their respective organizations now, looked like we won the battle somehow! In an instant, I have a handful of business cards in my hand… positions like “Scientist”, “Research Specialist”, “Project Engineer” and even “President and General Manager” swam in my eyes! And, I wondered how old have I become? How the heck did I contribute in making a “President and General Manager” of a company? I was just blown away!

After the meeting, we said our endless goodbyes. It was a very happy and nostalgic social event, with our alumni telling us of their pursuits and what have you. It was hard not to be emotional, watching those “kids” transformed into accomplished individuals in so short a time. What was marvelous was how they still spoke to us with almost reverence – little Academic people that we are. At the back of my head, I saw Mr. Nelson’s kind face, smiling and seemed to be nodding his head. And, I indulged voraciously, savoring that wonderful moment - that awesome treat, lest it doesn’t happen again.

I stepped out of the building with the blue cross atop my university seeming eager to partake at my awe as I closed my day. With the relentless Manila traffic, the way home was still slow even after rush hours. As the traffic crawled, I stared out of the window… the street children are lined up at the sidewalk, curled up on filthy cardboards that were their beds in the open air, no blankets despite the light drizzle. I was going to worry about my hectic schedule on the morrow, but my worries were snatched from me by those kids whose tomorrow was so uncertain… and yet, I know that they, too, can see the blue cross atop my university’s administration building where they lay. And, as it flickered in the darkness, I was certain that it was bringing forth some warmth of hope to those children. All of a sudden, I imagined those kids as diamonds… perhaps, rough and dull at the moment, but with some polishing and patient cutting, they, too will shine like those “kids” we nurtured in the university.

I murmured a prayer of thanks as I allowed myself to fall asleep. Education is needed to dig us out of poverty. That is hardly a roadmap, and yet, I know now that there is hope somehow.

History unfolds in the 2008 US Open Men’s Championship – Roger that!

A fan rejoices on the triumph of a great champion....
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by Philipina A. Marcelo

Once an awesome champion will always be an awesome champion!

Roger Federer showed exactly what that meant on Monday, 8th of September 2008, as he claimed his fifth US Open Men's championship trophy – putting a distinction to himself as the only tennis player who won five straight championships in both the US Open and Wimbledon! As he received his 13th major title in the US Open this year, he moved up merely a beat closer to Pete Sampras’s 14 career majors… and he’s only 27 years old! More than anything else, his US Open win this year puts all doubts to rest that El Maestro is over and out. These speculations mushroomed following his back-to-back defeat in Roland Garros in Paris and in the All England Club in Wimbledon by Rafael Nadal, who in the process snatched the Number One in the World spot from Federer, after a record breaking 237 straight weeks at the top. Federer will continue his run for history - that’s for sure. He said it so himself, “One thing's for sure, I'm not going to stop at 13. That would be terrible.”

A few months back, I was ranting as a disgruntled fan, trying to understand the lack of brilliance in Federer’s usually awesome game at the 2008 French Open… which is not to belittle Rafael Nadal’s talents because surely he has the heart of a champion, too. But it was hard to accept how, without a warning, the distinct Federer backhand got slapped back by that do-or-die ball scavenging machine called Rafael Nadal, the dangerous forehand became less lethal - even on grass later in Wimbledon, the graceful passing shots became awkward attempts at passing the shots, the entertaining variety turned to disturbing volatility, the out-of this-world Federer accuracy was reduced to “normalcy” that was definitely less than his gifts, and the usually intelligent game became a less inspired attempt to stay in the game! It was perplexing to say the very least. But what disgruntled me the most was how he showed signs of giving up when the going got tough in Roland Garros, because what makes him the greatest champion ever, as far as I’m concerned, is his ability to stay calm and will himself to winning matches – big or small, regardless of pressure… not just for the sake of winning, but more so for the love of the sport. Any tennis fan could discern how Roger Federer’s heart beats for the sport as he follows the ball with his eyes every single time that it approaches his end of the court, hits his racket, and fly down the line on his opponent’s end of the court. The sheer awesomeness of his talents and how he uses such talents to perfect every single stroke that he does on court can make every tennis enthusiast fall head over heels with the sport. Add to that the cool confidence, which is always balanced by wit and sense of humor, that he displays on and off the court makes him indeed the best ambassador that the sport could ever hope for!

On Monday, I saw the brilliance shine forth in the magnificent Arthur Ashe Stadium once again… not quite as exhilarating as last year, but it was there just the same. Andy Murray, with all his own talents and strong will to win was simply overpowered – and he made no excuses either. Perhaps, a precipitation from his men's doubles stint at the Beijing Olympics where he and Stanislas Wawrinka captured the gold for Switzerland, Federer’s added confidence at the net as he tackled Murray showed how he has added yet another number in his repertoire that he could summon when the need arises. Only time will tell how this would help him fetch more of the championship trophies that are up for grabs in the sporting seasons to come. With all the challenges that he endured throughout this season to reach the finals of the US Open and how he celebrated a big point won over Andy Murray with a fist pump and a mighty bellow that reverberated over at Arthur Ashe as if that was the very first time in his career to win a big point like that, perhaps, he discovered a new meaning of the sport that no one else but himself would ever understand. And that might just up the level of his game to yet another high - more awesome than awesome!

People may continue to speculate on his "shaky" stance on court these days, but one thing is for sure, El Maestro still reigns in the tennis world. He understands what winning means and can still will himself to win especially when winning means more than just lifting the victor’s cup, but also about keeping the faith of the multitude of believers in the sport, including himself. He may not be the Number One in the World at the moment, but to me (and without a doubt to many others, too), he is, and will always be, the best tennis champion in the world - ever. Roger that!

***
(Photo: Catching tennis fever in Malaysia with new and old friends. I traveled to Malaysia in November 2007 to visit a good friend and to catch the Federer-Sampras exhibition match. In the process, I made new friends. My friends and I couldn't catch El Maestro in the flesh after the match, and so we settled for the flattened larger-than-life version on the wall to take photo with.)

French Open 2008: How Roger Federer was defeated by himself at Roland Garros

A disgruntled fan's rant
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After Roger Federer cleared the quarterfinal hurdle that’s Fernando Gonzalez in the 2008 French Open, I excitedly declared to my friend: “My gut feel tells me that this is going to be the year when Roger Federer finally wins Roland Garros. You’ll see.”

Apparently, I spoke too soon. I was shocked by the way he suffocated from Rafael Nadal's dust rather than capturing the crown in that one elusive clay court in the City of Lights. 6-1, 6-3, 6-0, IMAGINE? It's the most shockingly disappointing finals I've ever seen from the supposed "greatest" tennis master! He was absolutely grated by Nadal! And, that's only because he let the powerhouse Spaniard step all over him. Even Nadal himself didn't seem to enjoy mincing an opponent without a real challenge - he even apologized in the end. Nadal was probably expecting to be pushed to his limits, but Federer didn't seem to have a strong resolve to tackle Nadal and win this year's French Open.

Although he lost the opening set in his quaterfinal match with Fernando Gonzalez, Roger Federer came back in a big way - with great confidence, patience in picking up points one by one, staying unperturbed by Gonzalez's charged assault, and impressive variety in his game that I've never seen him display on clay before, so awesome! Although I have to admit that his semi-final win over Gäel Monfils was less than impressive while Nadal delivered an exciting win over Novak Djokovic in his own semi-final match, still, I thought Federer's feat against Gonzalez was going to be a preview of his championship performance. I was so wrong.

And the problem was not that Nadal was playing exceptionally well, because he wasn't. He was playing his usual power game, no extraordinary never-before clay tricks. In fact, some of his vintage Nadal patents, such as dive-for-the-ball, shoot-to-the-air-like-a-rocket-to-save-a-set-point, were never displayed! The problem was, right from the first set, Federer seemed to have doubted his ability to win. All throughout the match, he wasn't trying as hard as he should to win points. His volleys lacked the commitment to get the ball through to the other side of the net, his approaches to the net were so tentative rather than aggressive that didn’t intimidate Nadal at all, and his back court offense lacked the variety to undo Nadal’s usual power defense on the baseline.

The whole of first set, Federer decided to stick to his usual baseline play even when it was clearly not doing anything to dismantle Nadal’s game and instead making him enjoy picking up the points in his comfort zone. Federer lost 6-1 in the process, leaving Nadal unchallenged and bored. He should’ve realized after his serve was broken by Nadal in the very first game of the match that Nadal was willing and prepared to cover the back court all the way to the baseline from side to side - because he can, and therefore must be forced to get inside the court when he least expected it. At a point when he clearly knew that he will not win the first set, it would've increased Federer's chances of winning if he used the remaining games to experiment on effective ploy to derail Nadal, and used it in the second set. Instead, Federer scurried to his defeat in the set, squandering points, finishing without a clear gameplan and with Nadal's championship plot left undecoded. It made me wonder what was happening inside The Master's mind at that time. Whatever it was, it must have been ugly.

In the second set, Federer attempted to serve and volley, approached the net to get Nadal scramble for the ball, but he was not prepared with a plan that will shock and force Nadal to miss. Instead, he handed Nadal several in-your-face opportunities to hit the ball and send it flying behind the ironically enough unsuspecting Federer! Rather than calming himself down, moving on, thinking of a better tactic and fighting back, because, clearly, when Nadal is forced towards the net not in his terms, he misses, either Federer defeatedly hang his head or screamed at himself in frustration – so uncharacteristic of the tennis living great that he is. After his serve was broken at 4-3, he clearly gave up Roland Garros this year. In the third set, he didn't even try: 6-0 in favor of Nadal. And it was painful to watch him reduce himself absolutely remote to the lethal athlete and out-of-this-world tennis genius that he is, eating dust at Roland Garros rather than conquering it.

I imagine that the tremendous expectations by many of a probable date with history was by far a greater burden than actually winning the match, but Federer's classy mastery of the sport always seemed to have immuned him from pressure and he rarely succumbed to raw rage of missing shots eversince he became #1 in the world. That's why it was totally surprising to see him openly showing his frustration in the key points of the match.

Although I still believe that he is the best male tennis player today, and arguably, the best ever, it was disappointing to see that the usually cool and composed Swiss champion was not playing his quiet but aggressive brilliance that always defined his artful mastery and dominance of the sport! He seemed to have lost confidence in his own talents and the motivation and tenacity to win the points one by one through to the championship point! Given that clay is his least favorite surface and that he may not have Nadal’s athletic physique that allowed the Spaniard warrior to move with tremendous flexibility and speed on clay, Roger Federer had the mental toughness, the innate talent that's bigger than anyone else's today, and intelligence to figure out an opponent’s game and come up with a counter attack that forces his opponent to play in his terms. This, while hitting the ball with awesome grace and precision in an artistic tennis court dance that other tennis players could only wish to immitate. Obviously, his advantageous attributes, which may have been enough to disprove Nadal's invincibility on clay, or at the very least posted a threat to Nadal's reign as the King of Roland Garros, were missing in this year’s championship match. I guess, one may be the biggest talent in his sport, but when one lacks faith in his own talents and the commitment to win, some other hungry talents will snatch the prize away from him. Judging from his 35 unforced errors - five times more than his opponent's, this year in the French Open, the worst of Roger Federer defeated the champion in him and handed Rafael Nadal the prize. That may not be fair to Nadal, because surely he, too, is an awesome champion, but I'm pretty sure he would have enjoyed an impassioned challenge from the #1 player in the world and make his historic four straight years of championship victory at Roland Garros as sweet as it should be!

Anyway, next year is another year... El Maestro can try again, and he will. He should. Hopefully, when he returns to center court at Roland Garros next year, and I hope I'm not speaking too soon again, he'd take his awesome genius along and remember what a great champion he truly is! In the meantime, he should figure out how badly he really wants the French Open crown.

2008 Sydney Medibank International: Bye, bye Ana

A tennis fan's celebration of yet another great tennis match from the land down under.
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It was bitter-sweet to watch Justine Henin on one end of the court doing what she does best - demolish her opponent with impressive strength and awesome precision, at the same time, watching on the other end, one of the most refreshingly new Serbian talents, Ana Ivanovic, getting her rhythm together to respond to Justine's pounce... uh, quite unsuccessfully in the women's semi-finals of the 2008 Sydney Medibank International. It was perplexing that Statistics seemed to show that Ana was playing better tennis - less unforced errors, less double faults, more winners, etc. but the score put Justine in the lead! Clearly, the big points - those that made spectators rose to their seats with an awestruck gasp - were won by Ana, and quite convincingly, too... but it was Justine who advanced to the finals to lock tennis wits with Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia where Justine eventually prevailed. Although, it was great to see Justine does her signature backhand with her shoulders and chest completely outstretched sideways to guide the ball right on the line, it was sad to see Ana pack her bags, with her intelligent game and quiet mastery of tennis not to be seen again in this year's remaining part of Medibank International (MI)!

To me, the most unforgettable moment in the 2008 MI's Henin-Ivanovic match was when Justine tried to trick Ana to a slow ball just past the net, which Ana chased with her athletic long legs leaping in a dizzying speed from her backcourt, on the side opposite to where the ball bounced low, towards the net to catch the ball bringing it back to Justine's end of the court, but on the side opposite from where Justine remained standing as she didn't quite expect Ana to be able to return the ball! Like a real champion, Justine reacted just in time and chased the ball with such speed - it seemed to have been more than a hundred steps per minute - at the same time planning to demolish Ana by hitting the ball with enough power and height to bring it to the backcourt way behind where Ana stood, which she executed with great precision. Ana seemed to read Justine's mind. She turned around and went to chase the ball right after Justine hit it. Nobody, including Justine, thought she could catch the ball, but she did! And while she ran, she planned to kill Justine by powering the ball to the backcourt behind Justine, who was waiting for her to miss the shot. Ana executed her plan with such brilliant move that left Justine just following the ball with her eyes as it flew over her with such speed that was impossible for even her champion caliber to catch! A big point for Ana, which she celebrated with the awed crowd with a discreet fistpump and cheeky smile... and Justine acknowledged with a resigned, and maybe admiring, smile! A great moment of tennis - two extremely talented women, both playing with power, precision, intelligence and impressive sportsmanship! Awesome!

Nobel Forum in Manila

January 9, 2008: Four Nobel Laureates graced the 10th Eurasia Conference on Chemical Sciences with their presence and I was lucky enough to catch them.  

(Photo: The all-excited Philipina with Prof. Hartmut Michel of Germany, the 1988 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. photo credits:  E. C. Quinto, 10th Eurasia Conference on Chemical Sciences, Philippine International Convention Center)
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Stepping aside from behind the podium to show the audience that he was wearing jeans, Prof. Aaron Ciechanover of Israel, the 2004 recipient of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry for his contribution in the discovery of ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation cheerfully said, “Nobel Laureates are humans, too… see, they wear jeans just like everyone else.” This, as he delivered his 10-minute speech during the Nobel Forum held at the Philippine International Convention Center in Manila on January 9, 2008, in conjunction with the 10th Eurasia Conference on Chemical Sciences. Representing the University of Santo Tomas scientific community, I was one of the lucky few who experienced the rare opportunity of interacting with four Nobel Laureates in a forum where thought-provoking ideas were tossed on the table and challenging questions that are relevant to today’s scientific frontiers were raised.

When asked about the potential of biofuel as a solution to the world’s current quest for alternative fuel, Prof. Hartmut Michel of Germany, the 1988 recipient of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry for his contribution in the determination of the three-dimensional structure of a photosynthetic reaction center, commented that biofuel may not be the long-term solution. He explained that the amount of energy stored by plants during photosynthesis is only about 1% of the sun’s energy, and therefore, the maximum energy they can provide is very little. He added that, considering the cost of planting and soil fertilization as well as the elaborate extraction and purification processes that plant oils have to undergo before being utilized as fuel, may be too expensive for the little energy they can provide. He suggested that the use of fuel cells may prove to be a better alternative for a more long-term and sustainable solution. Prof. Yuan Tseh Lee of Taiwan, the 1981 Nobel Prize winner for Chemistry for his contribution to the dynamics of chemical elementary processes, added that biofuel as an alternative fuel may work for countries where there is vast land for plant cultivation, such as the United States of America (USA). However, in countries were agricultural land is scarce and just enough for food production, such as Taiwan, other alternatives have to be explored. He jokingly commented that America’s problems usually become the world’s problems. But American solutions are usually just for America and are rarely applicable for the whole world. To me, this comment is a challenge for all the nations in the world to develop their own scientific capabilities to come up with solutions to problems, local or global, that are most appropriate to them, at the same time, a challenge to use science in making better the plight of all the peoples of the world, rather than using it to get ahead.

Prof. Ryoji Noyori of Japan, the 2001 Nobel Prize winner for Chemistry for his work towards the understanding of chirally catalysed hydrogenation reactions, emphasized the importance of instilling fundamental knowledge and discipline among young people through education. He stressed the importance of equal emphasis on basic and applied sciences in the role of technological innovations to solve the most pressing problems of the world today. Prof. Ciechanover agreed and, in fact, stressed the importance of collaborative science for a more productive scientific community. Prof. Michel pointed out that a deeper understanding of fundamental scientific concepts take patience and time, that’s why, scientific breakthroughs take longer than what some may appreciate. He commented that this is the very reason why the most important scientific findings came out from Europe rather than the USA – because of the tenacity of European scientists to patiently nurture a seed of idea with solid evidences until it becomes a mature fruit of understanding that does not erode with latest advancements, as opposed to the rat race-driven approach of the Americans to bring a scientific concept to commercialization. 

Having studied and been engaged in research in both Europe and the USA, I do have a very strong appreciation of the “contemplative approach” to scientific pursuits that defines the European scientific psyche – it makes those “eureka moments” such immeasurable delight that fuel one’s will to keep going no matter how hard the quest is. Perhaps, the American approach is a more practical one, which seeks to put a solid scientific concept to good use within the shortest possible time... although, I have to admit, that the “competition factor” is way too heavy for a scientist to bear to fully experience and appreciate those “eureka moments”. It would be great to do science just for the love of it and its benefits to humankind, rather than just to get ahead, or get the patent for the technology, or being the one to sell the technology to the highest bidder, or just to win the Nobel Prize - all superficial reasons for doing science. As Prof. Lee said, although money can be a driving force of innovation, creativity, which roots from intellectual curiosity, is stifled when intellectual superficiality persists. Prof. Ciechanover put it very candidly but meaningfully, "winning the Nobel Prize was not my objective, rather it was a consequence of ardently pursuing a passion." And, what a wonderful and fulfilling consequence it must have been!

If I were to sum this argument up having been immersed in both the European and American scientific communities, I would say that if one wants to specialize in the basic sciences, such as Chemistry and Physics, perhaps, the European approach would be the most fulfilling approach, but if one wants to specialize in applied sciences where commercialization is usually the end, perhaps, the American approach would suit him better. Just to illustrate, when I asked the Laureates of their opinion on the remark once made on nanotechnology being a “shotgun wedding” between the basic and applied sciences, Prof. Lee commented that nanotechnology is nothing new to the basic scientists because they have been studying this since many years back, but no one has called the area “nanotechnology” until recently, to which I agree completely. In fact, I would say that John Dalton is among the frontliners of “nanochemistry” - the "nano building blocks" of nanotechnology! But, I believe that the first person to actively put forward nanotechnology and its relevance to today’s technological innovation-driven world was an engineer from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology – an applied scientist from an American institution – when he was pointing out the exciting applications of the then young scientific area. From then on, the “nano pursuit” had been relentless!

To me, whether basic science or applied science, pursued by the European or American approach, the bottom line is always whether our scientific pursuits are geared towards the betterment of humanity or just towards personal gain. As Prof. Ciechanover said, “I don’t know basic science and applied science. I only know good science and bad science.”

Suddenly, grown-ups

E-mail exchange: Two friends from graduate school pursued two different professional paths, one joined the Academia while the other opted for the industry. Although separated by oceans, they kept in touch. From both sides, it felt like success was in the horizon early on, but the demands of their works made them a-wanting for what's not there - time for one's self.
================================================
by Philipina A. Marcelo


When we were little, we looked at grown up people around us and wished we were grown-ups, too. There was something about their success, the seemingly smart decisions they always come up with, their financial independence, and those good looking and equally successful people they go out with that made us wish we were wearing those big shoes they wore. Now that our own shoes are as big, we often wince at how very little, if at all, “play time” we can manage to squeeze-in in our often (very) packed "grown-up schedule". We often catch ourselves longing for the simplicity of childhood while we sit in our expensive comfortably stuffed couch staring blankly at our equally expensive plasma TV - alone! And we wonder where did the plan go wrong!

Like a “normal grown-up”, I was spending the holidays tidying up the house, being lazy, and catching up on social e-mails and found the exchange below:

Message 1:
Hey X,
Happy holidays! Have fun! (",)

Take care,
Y

Message 2:
Hey Y,

Merry Christmas to you, too! I heard you went to see Z in Malaysia and saw the Sampras-Federer game. I'm so jealous!!! Things have been very hectic for me and I am having a much needed vacation.

And, have you heard, W said she's moving to the Connecticut/New York area soon since she found another job. I haven't seen her yet though. I'll meet up with her when she gets here.

How are things with you?

-X

Message 3:
Hey X,

Thanks! How are you? What's up in NY?

Uh, yeah, you should be jealous because Z and I had an awesome time in Malaysia! ;-) Just kidding… we did have fun, but no need to be jealous. Actually, Z was complaining about how short my vacation was... I was complaining, too! But, I can only be away for a few days from work... you know how grown-up stuff could be a pain... the operative words are always "busy", "hectic", "hard", "challenging" and all other variants of "busy"! :)

Yeah, W's "letting go" of prestigious Company A in the rural State and finally opting for smaller Company B in a "more social" State! :) But the last time I contacted her (about a couple of weeks ago), she hasn't moved... she was in Canada, on a night shift, still in Company A! She said she'd explain, but it looks like she got caught up in the holiday rush. Anyway, you ladies have fun when she finally gets there!

As for me... well, life is about "grown-up stuff". I'm very busy setting up my lab in the university these days, and trying to resist the "nagging call" of the industry, which gets louder by the day. It's all about pursuing-passion-with-minimal-pay vs. interesting-change-to-life-of-perks for me these days... and the "passion" and "interesting" parts have nothing to do with "social life" either, mind you! :) Wait, is "sad" a variant of "busy"? =)

Anyways, enjoy your vacation! I hope you get re-charged!

Take care,
Y

Message 4:
Hey Y,

I'm spending Christmas and New Year at my brother's in Houston. It's a much needed break (yeah, in Houston... talk about "sad"!) because work has been insanely busy. Otherwise, not much else is happening for me. It has been pretty much from home straight to work and then home again. It feels like, I just go home to shower and change clothes! There’s not even enough time to get a decent sleep. Whoever said that getting a PhD at 26 was going to be great was a big fraud!

The calls of industry, uh…can be really overrated… hahaha. I just want a less stressful job, that’s all. I don't think money is everything… although being paid more can temporarily dull the pain, it will not last long. It's tough meeting people for me, too. Don't know where the (decent) men are, but at the same time I want to move home and it probably makes more sense for me to go home and then look for someone. When? I don’t know, still figuring it out. Until when? I don’t know… still figuring it out. You want me to go on? :-)

Anyway, take it easy! Hopefully I can visit you next year!

-X

It seems that we got some things wrong here somewhere. Rather than just being plain busy, I thought life was about being occupied with something meaningful - something that interest us beyond just achieving success but rather pursuing our passions and ideals, and having someone special to share the joys and pains of our pursuit. We know that we chose our professions to dedicate our time to this end and achieve something not just for ourselves but also for those close to our hearts. It seems, however, that by trying to get a lot of things done and engaging in a lot of things too soon to respond to the demands of our jobs, we lose the essence of our end. And we end up short to feeling fulfilled in spite of our hardwork. So, what to do? We're grown-ups now, somehow, we should be able to figure this out.

Perhaps, it's all about balance... balance between work and social life (or home)... balance between ambition and spirituality... balance between what we want to achieve and how much we're capable of achieving, given our circumstances. My Mom used to say that the balancing act is so much easier when you know someone is right there to catch you if you fall, the same someone who would help turn everything to happiness, no matter what. Come to think of it, my Mom was my favorite grown-up.

Dog day tennis

============================================================
by Philipina A. Marcelo




It has been a "dark day"... I'm still recovering from Roger Federer's defeat in the hands of David Nalbandian in the Madrid Masters on Sunday... 1-6, 6-3, 6-3. Although it was just one of Federer's very rare failures in a title bid, it was still a failure... and it's a great effort on my part to reconcile the Swiss star's "Mastery"of tennis with defeat. It's ironic that he lost in Madrid... after all, he's El Maestro for crying out loud! Oh, well... I know, I can be accused of being a die hard fan... I probably am guilty as charged.

As I began the week sulking, the critically acclaimed 1975 film, Dog Day Afternoon, came on Cinemax bannering the young Al Pacino's unlined face and incredibly expressive eyes... those that lend him extraordinary "screen presence" and make him appear taller than he actually was. Although I love the Godfather anthology and Al Pacino's Michael Corleone... I still think that Pacino gave his best career performance as Sonny Wortzik in Dog Day Afternoon. That unforgettable look-Ma-I'm-so-awesome-and-I'm-giving-these-guys-hell amok by the sidewalk, in front of the bank he robbed, in the presence of a battalion of policemen and amidst the cheers of the frenzied crowd, was simply remarkable. Suddenly, the gloom of El Maestro's failed Madrid run disappeared as Sonny Wortzik's confusion packaged in Al Pacino's Italian stare shone forth acting brilliance on screen. Performances like that and a film with a message like that can actually make the idiot box not-so-idiot.

Did I just make an excuse for being unproductive today?

A song that had a face

An essay: A song inspires memories of being loved, and ponders the desperation and uncertainties in loving. Although love can be had and lost, a brief moment of sweet abandon in love is eternal bliss.
=========================================================================
By Philipina A. Marcelo

I just got back from a five-year self-exile in Ithaca, NY, trying to get a Ph(dot)D(dot) attached to my name... uh, my Dad's name, actually! It was an interesting journey that started out as a fun year of discovery. Days were full of pleasant surprises, finding things in common with people, such as a liking for certain songs, or music, which progressed to meaningful friendship. Every single day seemed too short for all the excitement, until such time when the fun to work ratio approached zero, and the approach of busy weekdays to fun weekend became asymptotic. And then it got ugly... and ugliness became a constant companion. At some point, just when I thought I saw hope creeping in to conquer ugliness, ugly turned horrific... and it sat there in the dungeonlike prison - an unwelcome visitor for what felt like an eternity!

Aside from the little scientific breakthroughs here and there, the comforting company of good friends fueled the lamp of hope that lit the dark dungeon. The darkness dragged on and on in cold, cold Ithaca. Just when I was beginning to get accustomed to my life's dark period, suddenly the days went sprinting down to the elusive finish line in what seemed to be a wink! The last few days sped by like a bullet train that there was no time to savor the "finishing" moment! I held on through the supersonic ride. Before fully realizing what was going on, the dungeon gate flung open, the ugliness disappeared... and I was a free gal once again!

In the frenzied excitement of my first days of freedom, a face hovered around me silently... like a dream... a face that quietly kept me company in the darkness of the dungeon... a face whose owner held my hand as I groped around finding my way through the darkness. In the loneliness of the dungeon, that face was my boundless source of inspiration, those hands were my pillar of strength. In my freedom, the same face was the very meaning of freedom, the same hands were the very reason for reaching out to embrace freedom. In the light outside the dungeon, his face was even more reassuring and kinder. I reached for his hands, took them, and let myself be led to bask in the warm sunshine that was sweet freedom!

Now, I'm home. Although home was not a detention cell, it didn’t provide freedom either for, at home, he has become just a memory. I started getting re-oriented, introducing my new self to my old world, exploring changes and welcoming them. As always, adjustment began with music - that magical thing that always made new beginnings in my life some seamless merging of yesterday and today. I have been digging through my twelve year-old CD library and found a song that I haven't heard in a long time... it's a song by Edwin McCain - entitled "I'll be". I popped the CD to the old CD player in my room. As soon as the first note sounded, I knew I was in for a treat... I imagined the notes floating around me like colorful little butterflies, wings a-flopping in gentle mesmerizing sound, lulling me down memory lane.

I thought that the stroll down memory lane would transform the room into something familiarly cozy. I thought the song would bring back bitter-sweet teenage crushes and coming of age - some old threads I could entwine my present with. It didn't. Interestingly, memory lane didn't stretch as far back as before my exile... it just went a few weeks back. Again, the dreamlike face hovered... only, this time, it was really just a dream – a memory from the not-so-distant past. Like the butterflies with colorful wings, it wasn’t there. Something akin to longing tugged at my heart, I thought it’ll make me cry... but the playful butterflies danced on beautifully. I closed my eyes and let myself be mesmerized by McCain’s throatily casual, artistically un-polished voice that spelled Romeo-in-black-jeans purely hopeless romanticism – no frills, no pretentions, just an honest expression of one’s overwhelming affection....

The strands in your eyes that color them wonderful
Stop me and steal my breath
And emeralds from mountains thrust towards the sky
Never revealing their depth
And tell me that we belong together
Dress it up with the trappings of love
I'll be captivated
I'll hang from your lips
Instead of the gallows of heartache that hang from above

Chorus:
I'll be your crying shoulder
I'll be your love suicide and
I'll be better when I'm older
I'll be the greatest fan of your life

Rain falls angry on the tin roof
As we lie awake in my bed
You're my survival, you're my living proof
My love is alive not dead
And tell me that we belong together
Dress it up with the trappings of love
I'll be captivated
I'll hang from your lips
Instead of the gallows of heartache that hang from above

Repeat Chorus

I've been dropped out, I burned up, I fought my way back from the dead
Tuned in, I turned on,
Remembered the things that you said

Repeat Chorus

The last note of the song jolted me back to the present. I wondered what drove Eric McCain to write such an emotionally touching song... so desperately in love, so tenderly insecure. “Tell me that we belong together,” almost pleading, begging, a little assurance, a little affection. “Dress it up with the trappings of love,” such desperation - willingness to settle for just the minutest hint of love. Is that what we become when we fall in love? We tend to give ourselves fully to the point of utter desperation? “I’ll be your love suicide.” We dive to a freefall, filling our senses with the inexplicably exhilarating sensation of complete abandon - freedom? Leaving ourselves with not much to cushion the fall? Exposing ourselves to vulnerability, insecurity, pain? And, as we swim in the blissful beauty of being in love, we also torture ourselves with the uncertainties of the future, the answer to which the present won’t reveal? Will this feeling last? Will this moment last? What does it take to make it last? Is giving ourselves fully and completely enough? No answer. And yet, we allow ourselves to fall. We choose to fall. And how can we not? How do we resist a beauty so captivating? What kind of armor should we wear to protect ourselves from melting under such a spell so powerful? None – there is no way to resist, no way to fight it. Perhaps, we don’t want to fight it... for even as we lose in the end, a brief moment of sweet abandon is eternal bliss for the soul that knew love.

And then I thought of my plight in the dungeon and how I was nurtured and cared for by one kind soul. I never knew what drove him to do what he did, but yes, he was my crying shoulder, my hope, my survival. He rooted for me all the way, helping me to keep believing in myself. Prodding me to keep focused on my goals and to keep moving forward until all grounds are covered, until freedom was to be had. I doubt if he knew what love was but I felt loved, loved in ways most tender, most captivating, most unforgettable. I know that even when I dropped out or burned up, I will always find my way back from the dead just remembering the things he said. And when new life dawns, although I may not deserve it, I know that I will always find his face there in front of me - waiting, hovering - perhaps, a little older... but better – and he will always be the greatest fan of my life just like I will always be his biggest fan.

Musing...

An essay: As a young university instructor, I once reflected on the blessings and challenges of my teaching career. Despite the absence of corporate perks, I found that there was happiness in my students’ success.
=====================================================================
By Philipina A. Marcelo


Avery Corman is the bestselling author of the novel “Kramer vs. Kramer,” which was made into a highly acclaimed Hollywood film starring the brilliant Dustin Hoffman and the extremely talented Meryl Streep in the late ‘70s. In the early ‘80s, Corman came out with another novel entitled “The Old Neighborhood”.

The latter novel unraveled the inner conflicts of a man whose ardent pursuit of happiness brought him to the apex of success in his profession. Rather than finding happiness, however, he found himself entangled in a web of conflicting emotions. He was gripped by loneliness so chilling that at a certain point he lost life’s meaning altogether. As he climbed the ladder of success, he met so many people but the nature of his job did not allow him to make personal connection with anyone. So that in one dark moment of his life, he found himself without a friend. He couldn’t think of friends he’s had other than those he left behind in his old neighborhood – a working-class neighborhood that he chose to turn his back to when he began his lonely journey to the top of the world where he expected to find happiness.

One of the most unforgettable lines in that touching novel by Corman was uttered by the narrating character, Steve Robbins. In the novel, Robbins was a successful advertising genius who, at middle age, was struck by a sudden realization – after twenty years or so in the advertising field, every single dream he had as a poor young graduate of a city college in the Bronx has come true. What was appalling about this realization was that his remarkable success did not amount to even just an ounce of happiness. Of his career, he lamented, “You give out little pieces of yourself and they come back in the form of good suits and good desk.”

Robbins, however, have forgotten how lucky he was in his career that aside from good suits and good desk, he also got a great window view from his office in Manhattan’s business center, a nice house in a classy suburb in New York, a flashy car, a gorgeous California beauty with an equally dynamic career for a wife, two lovely and level-headed daughters who grew up with the social grace he was too poor to know as a young man himself, four credit cards with sky-high credit limits, and countless frequent-flyer accounts with different airlines. He was regarded with reverence by his colleagues as the “conscience of the business,” the champion of “truth in advertising”. All this and being called one of the top five creative brains in the field of advertising in exchange of the little pieces of himself. Such glory left him with gaping emptiness, a void where happiness should have been. And, the higher he climbed, the farther happiness seemed to be. In the end, he gave up everything that he had worked for, including his picture-perfect family, and left the chaos and excitement of life’s fast lane. Later, he reconciled with himself and found peace. In the simplicity of his existence back in his old neighborhood, he found happiness.

It’s funny that musing about my own teaching career, Steve Robbins’ cynical summation of his accomplishments should come to mind. To be sure, my progress in the teaching profession is incongruous to that of Robbins’
The Royal and Pontifical University
of Santo Tomas - The Catholic
University of the Philippines,
founded in 1611 and ran by Dominican
fathers.in the exciting world of advertising. For one thing, I haven’t gotten good suits and good desk out of my job, not that I need them either. But I am, and wonderfully so, to a certain extent, happy. Another incongruity between Robbins’ job and mine is that giving out just little pieces of myself was never enough. Every single undertaking, even day-to-day undertakings in the Faculty, was accomplished with the heart, mind, body and soul poured in completely. A little less than this would mean half-baked output in the classroom that would not produce even the feeblest grain of accomplishment.

In my profession, the absence of heart, mind, body or soul in our daily work turns days into little blades that cut through the flimsiness of the conscience and alienate one from the sense of fulfillment: the building blocks of happiness. This happens when either the heart is in pain, the mind exhausted, the body ill or the soul lost. And since I, too, am human, I suffered from such inadequacies from time to time. Such inadequacies usually put teachers, like myself, in some dark, frightening mood where the don’t mess-up-with-me-or-I’d-summon-the-red-ink look would be written all over our faces. Sometimes, even when nobody dared mess up with us, we still summoned the red ink anyway! To some, it merely is a defensive pose to mimic control whenever pain or exhaustion or illness or sense of loss attacked. And yet, to some students, this is nothing but a despicable miscalculation of authority or lapse of judgment. In such cases, the battle between pride (on the part of teacher) and rebellion (on the part of the student) that we all know too well follows. In many cases, the red ink prevails! And, of course, it’s always a shame when the red ink triumphs because, more often than not, it simply means failure to explore all options. This emphasizes the necessity of having the heart, mind, body and soul poured in completely in our job’s day-to-day activities.

For so many teachers, myself included, this daily exhaustion of the body and spiritual faculties dims the light that illuminates our prospects as social beings. Our lives tend to revolve around the principal object of our attention: the students. The fire in our hearts is consumed by the desire to give them the best training they need. Their dreams become our mission, their idealism our inspiration that constantly strengthens our spiritual fiber, their youthful energy our source of strength. Sometimes we end up with only a tiny glow left for ourselves. A glow so tiny it’s not even enough to keep us warm in those cold evenings that ought to be spent with someone whose last names we shared. In other words, many of us end up running out of social options other than single blessedness. Although I do not prefer single blessedness, I do not see it as an entirely negative thing either. It is one thing to be a biological parent to one’s children, and it’s another to be a good “spiritual parent” for so many souls bound to become a lot of things. For those of us who are more fortunate to have learned to juggle the demands of our profession and a working home, the pressure is even greater. And yet, they stay, loving every minute of their time in the teaching profession.

In much broader sense, this brings us to the more interesting nature of our job as teachers. Unlike Robbins’ job, ours is not just a personal pursuit of happiness, it’s so much more than that. We lay ourselves to serve as avenues for our students in pursuit of their own dreams. Sometimes we serve as ladders through which students reach the height of their dreams. We could be steep or easy, but we’re always directed upward. Still students sometimes misunderstand us and see us neither as avenues nor ladders but rather obstacles that impede the accomplishments of their goals. Sometimes we give them good reasons to consider us as such, too!

Oh, yes, there are glorious moments, too. In fact, there are countless glorious moments! Although, “glory” in our job is not measured in the same scale as in Robbins’ profession, the effect is the same: sustenance. Robbins’ glory sustained his supply of good suits and the continuous influx of suckers who posed as friends, ours sustained the spirit. His glory bloated the ego, ours fattened the heart. The feeblest nod that signified understanding of knowledge revealed in a lecture, those little discreet smiles that expressed appreciation of our efforts, those awkward attempts for small talks that meant fondness, those quiet and sometimes cheerful greetings that implied respect, those advices sought that meant “we-believe-in-you” or “we-value-your-opinion,” all the little expressions of courtesy and thoughtfulness that seemed to quietly say “you’re-a-part-of-our-lives” – all this constitute the great reservoir of inspiration and personal glory that is simply immeasurable. They weigh the heart down with happiness! And after the tassel is finally shifted, friendship begins, and boy, what a flood of friendship it is, too!

Perhaps, this is the best thing about having very little material possessions, one become more appreciative of all the little “bonuses” here and there. And, in this profession, “bonuses” abound. Some people keep their treasures in exquisite ornamental boxes, I keep mine in a small cardboard box. My treasures are not those sparkling pieces of jewelry that are good for vanity, and yet, they too sparkle like exquisite pieces of diamond. My treasure is a bunch of business cards each engraved with my former students’ names. Some of them I don’t remember anymore, but they remember me! Sometimes, that elevates the feeling from mere happiness to joy, and what a feeling that is, too!

Steve Robbins found happiness in his old neighborhood, I am experiencing happiness in a place where I belong and where I seem to be needed. I have no great wishes from this place except for it to allow me to mellow with grace in its portals and not to be forgotten too soon. Or better still, not to be forgotten even when my own time is up.

***
COPYRIGHT 1999 Thomasian Engineer (Author: Philipina A. Marcelo), the official student journal of the Faculty of Engineering, University of Santo Tomas, España, Manila, Philippines.

When worlds meet

An essay: A trip to Texas turns into an unforgettable tour of the wonders of science and the beauty of the human body.

======================================================
by Philipina Apresto Marcelo


For the past two years, I have been planning a trip to Dallas, Texas to visit very good friends who promised me a good time, good company… and lots of steak! Each time I attempted to book a flight after an agonizingly long thinking process, planning and budget optimization, a glitch in my schedule never failed to raise the red flag, or so I imagined, and I always ended up not going. Yes, I can be really boring like that. But last winter break, one friend’s incessant invitation, my desperate need to get out of Ithaca, a drop-dead plane ticket sale in Travelocity and an extremely high sugar loading made me book a flight in a heartbeat. Before fully realizing it, I was in Dallas-Forth Worth airport at eleven o’clock on a Friday morning “howdy-ing” my surprised friend who was so impressed by the fact that I am actually capable of spontaneity! Hah, I am not that boring after all!

Driving from the airport to my friend’s place, my hopes for a great vacation started to sag. Huge and flat, Texas is, perhaps, the least picturesque place I’ve ever been to. OK, I admit, maybe I’m not being fair to J. R. Ewing’s country ‘cause those disturbingly humongous water melons amidst the countless restaurant chains, Wal Mart outlets and churches are actually quite a sight to behold! They were like the formidable planet Jupiter staring you down menacingly, challenging you to eat them if you dare, which I didn’t! So, there you go… on my first visit, J. R. Ewing’s country was actually made exciting for me by genetically modified water melons. And that has absolutely nothing to do with my desire to become a food scientist. I know, that’s beyond boring… that’s sad.

Determined to make my first Texan vacation an unforgettable one, my friend took me to the “Body Worlds” exhibition at the Dallas Science Center on the first day of my visit. True enough, the “traveling exhibit” certainly helped my vacation-on-an-impulse such an awesome experience.

The Body Worlds exhibition was a fascinating walk through the inner workings of the human body. Human bodies and organs were preserved in a process called plastination, a specimen preservation technique invented by German anatomist, polymer scientist and licensed physician Dr. Gunther von Hagens. The process involves the removal of water and fats from tissue to prevent decomposition after death. These bodily fluids on which decomposition-promoting bacteria thrive are replaced with polymers in a two-step fluid exchange. First, the fluids are replaced by acetone, which is replaced with polymer solution by forced vacuum impregnation in the second step. The intermediate fluid exchange with acetone is necessary because of the chemical incompatibility of body fluids and the polymer solutions. Acetone is an apt intermediate exchange fluid because of its low vapor point that allows its complete removal from the tissues under vacuum condition during the forced impregnation of the tissues with polymer solution. The impregnation continues until each cell is saturated with the polymer solution.

Through the plastination process, human bodies were preserved to allow the observation of true-to-life spatial relationships among body organs in various real activity poses such as when a basketball player leaps to dunk the ball in the basket, when a teacher bends forward to write in the chalkboard or when a ballerina stretches her back and stands on her toes to make a graceful pirouette. Parts of the flesh were carefully sliced, without destroying the muscle grains, so they came off the bones intact to reveal the organs underneath while the plastinates are maintained in such poses. The plastinates looked like mannequins, but they are real human bodies and organs from human donors who believed in the cause of the Institute for Plastination (IfP) established by Dr. von Hagens in 1993 in Heidelberg, Germany. Through a contract with the institute, the donors – to whom the traveling exhibition is dedicated – donated their bodies or body organs on the event of their death. The plastinates are used by the IfP and other allied institutes in basic medical education, continuing medical research and in general medical education of the public.

A number of whole body plastinates were displayed on the exhibition floor. In many pieces, an upright body was sliced from the top of the head down to the feet into a series of thin longitudinal cross-sections and arranged like accordion, gathered at the feet, to give life-size pictures inside the human body. Viewing such amazing figures was very much like viewing the insides of a Swatch watch, a truly wonderful experience for those attempting to use logic in understanding the human body’s fascinating complexity.

There was an interesting plastinate of a man mounted on a plastinate of a galloping horse. Curiously, it was like looking at a decaying man on its decaying horse at first glance. And yet, on close scrutiny, one can see the tensions in a man’s body muscles as it rides a galloping horse. Some plastinates showed the amazing circulatory system of the human body, from the unimaginably humungous arteries down to the minutest of veins in the human eye in a maze of red threads. In such plastinates, the rest of the human body is stripped from the skeletal system, leaving only the circulatory system snaking around the skeleton.

Although, I walked around the exhibition floor overwhelmed by fascination, both from the exhibit pieces themselves and the intricacy of the process by which they were preserved, I found some pieces totally disturbing, especially those that showed defects and diseases, such as uterus and breast tumors as well as lungs enveloped in nicotine residues. Somehow, it scared me to think that it is not a complete impossibility to have those tumors in my own body. Perhaps, that was the other objective of the exhibit, to make people aware of how the perfection of their bodies could mutate into something absolutely scary with the onset of diseases that are otherwise preventable.

The last part of the exhibit featured the “beginning of life”. The body of a pregnant woman – lying on her side in a glass cubicle – her stomach opened to reveal the inside of her womb, greeted visitors through the makeshift door of dark blue curtains. Around the whole-body plastinate were preserved fetuses at different stages of maturity, mounted in little glass cases like flower bulbs about to bloom in springtime. The serenity in their faces, unadulterated by the harsh realities of life, and the purity of their little bodies were absolutely moving, they made my knees go weak.

The plastinate of the pregnant woman was, to me, the most amazing part of the exhibit – two lives in one body, captured beautifully and most amazingly through an artful rendition of science, obviously with as extreme a care as human’s wits allowed. I stood there totally enchanted, oblivious to the world around me. I stood motionless, not daring to blink, afraid that such magical moment would disappear if I did. The woman’s face, despite the plastinized flesh, was a picture of soft beauty and feminine bloom. The richness of her bosoms due to expectancy was very prominent. Her body seemed to come alive in glorious curves and ample volume of flesh, perhaps due to another life she carried in her womb, which her body cushioned in a way most natural for a mother protecting her offspring. The baby, crouched in its mother’s womb, was a picture of a small perfection of life. The fragility of its body curved in a ball of limbs and small head, enveloped in its mother’s womb, melted me with a totally engulfing awe, almost bringing tears to my eyes. There they were, two breaths in unison, a pure miracle if there was one. I stood there wondering what it was like to carry a baby in one’s womb, to feel a seed of life growing within one’s own body, to experience the surge of love most tender and affection most overpowering that plant the seed there, and the painfully beautiful experience of bringing forth a new life into this world. If only for having allowed me to experience the awesome emotion of such contemplation, my long delayed trip to Dallas was so worth it. I just know I will never ever forget that moment.

Reference: http://www.bodyworlds.com/en.html

Copyright 2007 LIKHA Literary Magazine, published by the Cornell Filipino Association, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.