Please extend our heartfelt condolences to Carmen Chan's family.  It is hurting and sad to hear the loss of one of our classmates and a good, kind friend.

Alex S. Rodriguez (Batch '65) & family, Florida, U.S.A
gates1@juno.com
 

Dateline Buffalo

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

Junior high marvel Haydee Wang ignited the Year of the Tiger with an enviably glimmering achievement and grace that swayed our esteemed alma mater in a perpetual cascades of congratulatory hymns in cloud nine; a premiere kick-off for another banner year in the LCHS community.  This follow-through to Miss Sally Tan-Vy’s crowning scholastic legacy speaks volumes of Haydee’s absolutely mystifying academic dedication, cerebral awareness as sharp as a tack and a maturity level that incessantly paces her juggernaut of abilities at full throttle.  To the faculty members who chipped in the amalgam of academic motivation, professional inspiration and social chemistry: scoop up your fractions of brownie points, but refrain from blowing out the "recipe".  To the blessed dad and mom, Johnny and Chiok Hian: you unquestionably bred and molded a sure-fire winner who has an eye for excellence and missionary zeal. Pat and cuddle your genes; you have a living trophy in your bloodline who is the current focal point of everyone's salivary discharge.

Here's a newly unearthed historical tidbit: unknown to most alumni, I garnered three variants of this coveted national honor for our school during my wild and heady days.  In my dreams!

Farewell, dear classmate.  Learning about your devout Christian principles adherence, you undoubtedly are apt to savor a lucrative afterlife.  My prayers are with you and your family.
 

Sentimental Journey

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

This section offers all LCHS alumni a forum for the ventilation of ideas concerning the proposed alumni grand homecoming.  If it materializes, the affair will be the grandest homecoming ever in LCHS alumni history.  As such, no stone must be left unturned to translate the project to reality.  Pursuing a grand project like this necessarily entails tremendous efforts on the part of the planners over a considerable stretch of time.  That being the case, all alumni concerned are encouraged to chip in their ideas through this forum on how we can best bring about a successful grand alumni homecoming.

At this point in time, several key issues are ripe for discussion.  Among them are the ideal date for the affair; will it be in July 2000?  Or December 2000?  Do we term it a millennium homecoming?  If so, doesn't a new millennium officially start with the year 2001?  How can we effectively enlist the greatest number of alumni to attend the affair?  Won't it be appropriate to pay tribute to selected former dedicated LCHS teachers in the affair?  Who among them do you think deserve to be honored?  Has LCHS ever produced a yearbook through which one may retrace one's batch mates?  Does the Alumni Association have a general directory of LCHS alumni other than its registered members? Or for that matter, does LCHS still have records of its students and teachers from 1938 to the present in its archives?  These, and many more, are issues that cry out for ideas from LCHS alumni at home and abroad.  The proposed grand homecoming can only be a grand success if the alumni themselves scattered everywhere will help make it be.
 

In our salad days, the LCHS laboratory in the old Roosevelt campus was one of the finest among Iligan schools.  Housed in a solitary one-storey building, it was equipped with a host of scientific paraphernalia that could cost quite a fortune today.

Inside this once venerable lab and under the icy gaze of Albert Einstein in a photo on the wall, we explored Newton's law of gravity, tested Archimedes' law of buoyancy, marveled at quantum effect, probed into the colors of the spectrum, dissected frogs, peered into the microcosm of living cells.  We even learned to exclaim "Eureka! Eureka!" whenever we found a new puppy love.

True to the purpose for which it was envisioned, the lab opened doors to a whole new world of nature's mysteries for LCHS students.  The facility came fully equipped with complete sets of laboratory implements: Bunsen burners, tuning forks, test tubes, flasks, beakers, prisms, gyroscopes, microscopes, weighing scales, including specimens of various flora, fauna, and lepidoptera.  It also housed a rare menagerie of stuffed animals that included a bobcat, an egret, an iguana, an eagle, a chimpanzee, a python, among others. There were also an infant monkey, a viper and other reptiles preserved with formalin in bottles and jars.  I once found myself expressing bewilderment at how a new arrival posted among the lab's exhibits could appear so prehistoric yet strikingly authentic. To which my seat mate retorted, "That's not a specimen, that's our new science teacher!"

One of the lab's prized possessions was a man-size model of the human anatomy, which we dissected layer by layer to study man's internal organs.  Unlike many of my classmates, I never developed any interest in such gory exploration.  It would have been different though had the replica been that of the female anatomy.

Owing to the valuable items stored inside, the lab was often kept closed under lock and key. It was rendered accessible only during laboratory period.  Yet, even if it were accessible any other time, students would still dread getting inside the lab during unholy hours.  The lab was said to be haunted.  At times when the campus was deserted, eerie sound of feet shuffling was said to have been heard in the lab.  Which was odd because nobody could have been inside since its two doors were locked from the outside.

On a dare, I once stayed behind on campus with a classmate after school dismissal.  As soon as everyone had gone home, we sneaked up to the lab and perched ourselves atop a stool to peep inside the lab through the overhead glass window.  The silence was bizarre yet we heard none of the dreaded shuffling sounds inside.  Suddenly as I scanned the room, I noticed a slight shadowy movement up ahead.  It was scary and I could feel a chill running down my spine.  When I looked again, I saw to my horror a faint apparition reflected on the glass window on the opposite side of the wall.  It turned out to be my own face.

For many of my peers, a trip to the LCHS lab was always a period of new discoveries.  To me and several other naughty cohorts, however, it was a time to deviate and venture into our own form of scientific explorations.  We hid ourselves at the back of the lab and experimented with Chesterfield and Pall Mall.  We reached the conclusion that indeed a filtered cigarette tasted milder than a non-filtered one.

The exterior retaining wall of the lab also provided us with a convenient platform to try our skills in the science of hieroglyphics.  On the lab exterior walls could be traced such titillating graffiti as "Ramdracalav Boys"; "Abraham wuz here"; "I luv Lucena";  "Walastik Gang kami"; "Me Tarzan, you stupid"; and many such other ancient relics all affirming the existence of a Sino-Jurassic tribe in LCHS long before the discovery of speech.

From the lab, we also discovered the magic of chemistry.  Occasionally during lab period, we would stash away a few milligrams of mercury which we rubbed on our coins to give them a brilliant coating.  Alas, we discovered the morning after that the coins had turned into pieces of discolored and priceless junk resulting from their chemical reaction.  Expensive lesson indeed.

Laboratory recess was also our chance to sneak back into our usual lair behind the lab to embark on a form of group research.  We formed ourselves into clusters and experimented with the science of probabilities in playing cards.  From such experiments, we discovered the dynamics of Black Jack and Baccarat.  From these cards we found a new meaning in cardiology.

Such were the lessons in science that we picked up at the once fabled lab of LCHS.  To this day, the lessons have remained intact in a world where the mystery of life is sometimes made easier to live by when one has savored a little bit of everything.

(EDITORS' NOTE: Watch for our special feature in next week's issue of the Spectrum: "The History of LCHS" written by Fe Dy-Quimbo.)