Joven Sebido

Name: Joven "Ven" J. Sebido
Year: 3rd
Party: Alliance for Responsive Involvement and Student Empowerment (UP ARISE)

Affiliation/s:

  • President, UP Palaweños (UPP) AY 2008-2009
  • Vice President for Internal Affairs, UP Palaweños AY 2007-2008
  • Member, UP Association of Computer Science Majors (UP CURSOR) AY 2006-2009
  • Member, Association for Computing Machinery - UP Diliman Chapter (UP ACM) AY     2007-2009
  • Contributor, UP Parser, 2nd Semester AY 2008-2009

Other extra-curricular work:
  •     Steering Committee, CS Week 2009
  •     Volleybagan Head, UP CURSOR, Engineering Week 2008
  •     UPP-Kaisa Ploning movie tie-up coordinator, November 2008
  •     Y4IT 2008 Volunteer
  •     Co-Head, 15 Treasures Raffle, CURSOR Week 2008
  •     Overall Head, Pautakan: The 16th Province-wide Interscholastic Quiz Bee, October 2008
  •     Co-head, Pautakan: The 15th Province-wide Interscholastic Quiz Bee, October 2007
  •     Marketing coordinator, UP CURSOR 2nd Semester AY 2007-2008

Scholastic achievement/s:
  •     College Scholar, 1st Semester, AY 2006-2007
  •     2nd Place, CS12 Programming Competition, CS Week 2007

Other achievement/s:

  •     2nd Place, Indakan Pair, Engineering Week 2008
  •     3rd Place, Indakan Groups, Engineering Week 2008
  •     3rd Place, Photosprinteng'g, Engineering Week 2008
  •     2nd Place, Juego de Anillo, Engineering Week 2008

1. Why should we vote for you?

Because i wholeheartedly offer my skills, my time, and my service to the College of Engineering studentry especially to the Department of Computer Science. I am confident and competent enough to take the challenges and responsibilities as your representative.

2. Why should we NOT vote for you?

You should not vote for me if you don't want a hardworking, dedicated and effective student leader.

3. What current CS Reps-sponsored programs/activities do you plan to continue or improve?

  • We will revitalize the mentorship program for freshies, shiftees and transferees. First, we will collaborate with the professors so that specific needs of the mentees will be addressed. And second, we will conduct monthly evaluation of mentees and their mentors so we can keep track of their progress.
  • Since the Dedicated Computer Science Students (DCSS) program hasn't given full attention, we will revive and make it work. DCSS is a pool of computer science volunteers that will be our helping hand in all the activitities that we will have in the department. DCSS will be the realization of our AGILE campaign (Awareness.Growth.Involvement.Leadership.Excellence). This will serve as a training ground for our future leaders as well as competitive and well-rounded computer scientists.

4. What new programs/activities do you plan to implement?

  • Since computers are our best buddies, we should know how to give back the favor, so The TLC: Teaching Lab Care is just right for us! We're gonna tie-up with CS organizations to have lab cleanups and maintenance. By this, we can give our teaching laboratories a fresh look and possibly eliminate the need for terminal sharing by fixing malfunctioning computers.
  • To give guidance to the new breed of computer science fellas we provide you with the Freshies, Shiftees and Transferees Assistance program. First, we will welcome them to our department through a department tour and newbies-oldies get-together party. And second, we will help them to get thru their first year as CS students by our mentorship program.
  • If you are not satisfied that these are new projects (something unheard, something unconventional), well it is because we want to focus first on the apparent problems of our department such as poor information dissemination and lack of student participation. We believe that through our AGILE campaign and through your support we can solve these issues and afterwards, progress to new avenues.

5. Sometimes, candidates promise a lot of things, but when they win, don't actually fulfill them. How can you assure us that everything you just said will be fulfilled?

My experience in leading my provincial organization for almost two years, all the projects or events that i have successfully delivered, my time and efforts that will be divided between my academics and my service to you which should have been alloted to my studies alone - all these will support my solid commitment as your CS representative to the Engineering Student Council.

6. Juggling school work with CS Rep work is hard. How do you plan to manage doing well in your acads and the same time fulfill your responsibilities as a CS rep?

It is hard indeed, but it is just a matter of discipline, proper time management and prioritization. I will prioritize my acads over my responsibilities as a CS rep because before i can be a student leader, i should be a student and a role model first. Proper time management and discipline is a must and i have learned it over the past years through my experience. One way of doing it, which i have been praticing for years, is listing and scheduling my study/MP time and my extra-curricular activities ahead so i can properly divide my time among them according to priority.

7. If you don't win, will you still be willing to serve the department with the same passion and determination that you would have if you won? If yes, how? If not, why?

Yes, of course. There are other ways of serving the department aside from being the CS rep. I will participate in the activites of the department and of the college, if DCSS will be put in action then I will join, I will concentrate more on my acads so I can pull-up my grades, I will be active in my CS organizations, I will apply to be a mentor for the mentorship program and a lot more.

8. If DCS had a mascot, what should it be? Why?

The obvious, computer, because it is our tool in solving problems, it's always there when we are depressed during the upcoming MP deadlines and when we celebrate with our projects done ahead of time. So as our best buddy, it deserves to be our dep mascot - the representation of who we are and what we do.

9. Apathy has always been a "disease" among Com Sci students, especially regarding campus or even national issues. As a CS Rep, do you plan to address that? If yes, how? If not, why?

We, cs students and engineering students, are not apathetic. We are just oftentimes under-informed, misinformed or not informed at all about the issues and activities of the college and of the university because of poor publicity. To address this issue we will implement effective and intensive information dissemination. We will provide a customized information board where different organizations can post updates and announcements.  To fuel students with the right information about immediate issues and activities around the campus, flyers will be handed out to them. If you want to hear it personally from us, you can reach us through the CS Hotline.

10. The CRSRS issue is the most recent issue to rock the UP community. What's your stance on it and why?

I stand for NO, because I believe that there should be additional amendments to the current Codified Rules for Student Regent Selection: (1) a minimum grade requirement; (2) a detailed list of the responsibilities of the SR; (3) a fair vote system in proportion to the student population; and (4) since the SR is our lone medium for us to be heard in the Board of Regents, we, the students, should be the one to select who will sit in the position, thus SR selection should be democratized.

11. Do you think we have a chance of winning the Eng'g Cup next year, given that we garnered last place this year? How do you plan to improve our standing next year?

Yes we have a chance to win but practically speaking, it will take so much effort as well as extra time and attention in training players which we all know isn't that much of our priority. But as they say "Great things start from small beginnings", we will do our best to find players for different sports and then provide them training places and equipments (ie. balls, nets) so they can prepare for the games and finally, give them big time support during the game proper.Wining doesn't depend only on what the CS reps can give, its a team effort , it involves all the CS students, we need their participation and commitment. If we have a common vision which is winning the Eng'g Cup, then i think we can bag the crown!

12. Should you win as a CS Rep, UP Parser becomes part of your responsibilites since you will be automatically appointed Managing Editor. How do you plan to contribute to Parser?

Together with my co-reps, we can head the marketing, so the newsletter can be published in a regular basis. If company sponsorships can not be gained due to economic crisis then we can make way to tap the alumni and ask the ESC's help for funds.

13. In an alternate universe where you're not taking up Computer Science, what would be your course and why?

A premed course and pursue a career in medicine because i want to save lives and help other people.

14. Give us the best computer-related joke you've got.

During my CS150 class i made some corny jokes on programming language in a Going Bulilit way, I love eating so i'll go with this one: Anong programming language raw ang pwede mong kainin kasabay ng pritong isda, hotdog, ham o grilled chicken? Ano raw? Eh di Java Rice! Ngeeeee!

15. Would you rather be the next Bill Gates or the next Steve Jobs? Why?

Neither, because I want to be myself, Ven Sebido. If they reached whoever they are now, then I believe i can also achieve it in my own way. At the end of the day we always boil down to the same point, we are just humans, but we vary significantly. I got inspired by one of the taglines of a sports brand and it goes like this, "Beating the competition is relatively easy, but being yourself is a never ending commitment". So, whatever you do, you just have to believe in yourself!