A grand reunion for LCHS in the Year 2000 is a good idea, as expressed in the LCHS Spectrum. I haven't been to Iligan City for almost twenty years already, but I want to visit it again. My wife and children haven't been there yet, so they are naturally curious as to what my "hometown" looks like. I'd also like to meet my old classmates. Some of them, like Farley Sy and Felisa Khu, are in Iligan, but most are probably elsewhere. An updated directory listing will be useful in planning this event. And congratulations for coming up with an excellent newsletter.

David Y. Dy, M.D.  (Batch '73), Manila, Philippines
surgeon@mozcom.com

Impressive Articles
Fri, 30 Jan 1998

The articles in your Spectrum newsletter are impressive.  There is creative interplay of words in the articles, specially the graphic combination of medical terms in the column "Dateline Buffalo".

Jean L. Rodriguez, former editor, The Hornblower, Cebu Toastmasters Club
Cebu, Philippines
 

Dateline Buffalo

By Ernesto L. Yu, M.D., Batch 1965 Ernstyu49@aol.com

A current chilling ring of truth: There is a brand of bottomless discrimination percolating in American landscape that has nothing to do with race, gender or sexual orientation.  It is a sneer and an acid slur bestowed to all grades of masses who skim a bonanza of emotional uplift and psychic peace out of smoking cigarettes.  The apathy has ignited to a level where the mere flash of clipping nicotine rolls sparks defenders-of-the-universe health freaks to spew caustic one-liners.  Any Smokin' Joes or Janes who amble into the gun sight get zapped and relegated to the ranks of erratic dorks who don't give a hoot at decomposing the ecosystem.  For future pulmonary cripples who, in spite of  the public's quizzical stares at their sick thrill, still preserve a boisterous enthusiasm with the septic lunacy of Salem's digital ballet, they rightfully deserve to draw the consternated flurry from environmental watchdogs.  Stripped to its very elemental structure, exhaling noxious tar fumes has sponged an analogy to generic weepers devoid of blissful endings.

Catchphrase of our concluding millennium: Smoking is a truly dying art, akin to flirting suicide in installment basis.

Nothing personal, cowboy.

Like the Nike's slogan: Life is short. Just do it.
 
 

Sentimental Journey

By Henry L. Yu, M.D., Batch 1969

Jokes from the Internet: All About Marriage

• Many a man owes his success to his first wife; and his second wife to his success.
• A man is incomplete until he is married.  After that, he is finished.
• When a man steals your wife, there is no better revenge than to let him keep her.
• She's a lovely person.  She deserves a good husband.  Marry her before she finds one.
• A beautiful girl is like a melody.  Marry her and you have to face the music.
• Eighty percent of married men cheat in America.  The rest cheat in Europe.
• Marriage is when a man and woman become as one; the trouble starts when they try to decide which one.

Issues of cultural diversity have always inspired me to work harder than my peers in order to prove that I am just as good as them.  As the first generation of Chinese-Filipinos to grow up in the States, I have always questioned my own cultural identity.  I always felt that I had to choose to be either Asian or American.  Torn between two cultures, I have never experienced a complete acceptance by one culture or the other.  Only recently have I accepted that I must represent both.  It is my responsibility as an Asian American to utilize my position to bridge the gap between these two cultures.  Through my efforts to further the acceptance of cultural diversity will I find acceptance for who I am.

Growing up in a very supportive family sheltered me from issues of race.  I was first made aware that I was "different" in kindergarten by taunts in which I was referred to as a "Stupid Chinese Machai". It has been 10 years since then and I still have no idea what a "Chinese Machai" is.  But the point is that I was singled out and made fun of because I was physically different.  I wish I could entirely convey the feelings of confusion, embarrassment and anger I felt from these racial slurs. I had done nothing to these people to deserve such pain. My only fault was being Asian.

The education I have received at Nichols has taught me that differences exist in our world.  These differences are visible in the race, sex and class we represent.  Only with an open mind can we see how the disrespect of differences supports the oppression of "different" people.  My education has also opened my eyes to the privileges I have been given through education, economic, comfort and social status.  These unearned privileges can lead to an expression of unearned power over the unprivileged.  I see the struggle against forms of oppression as an active battle which we as a community must confront because silence leads to acceptance.

From my experiences, I know that racism exists in our society.  Many stereotypes of Blacks, Asians and all minorities prohibit the full acceptance of diversity in our world.  I feel that the greatest attribute I can share with my peers is a mental framework through which we can accept, recognize and respect people from different cultures.  I look forward to leaving for college in order to experience a larger world and more importantly, a more diverse world. Cultural diversity is a resource which needs to be more fully utilized in order to eliminate institutions of oppression like racism and classism.  Different experiences should not be criticized but rather shared to enrich one's own self.