THIS YEAR’S Freshmen Orientation Seminar (OrSem) has been postponed following precautionary measures against the entry of the Influenza A (H1N1) virus in the country.
“We are declaring a moratorium on large gatherings (i.e., beyond 500 participants),” read a memo released by Vice President Ma. Assunta Cuyegkeng, Ph.D. The memo, effective May 27, was released along with safety measures and guidelines to prevent the illness.
The earliest possible date for any big gathering is June 28 for members of the Loyola Schools (LS) community, and July 12 for non-LS personnel.
As of press time, there are four confirmed cases of Influenza A (H1N1) in the country. The global outbreak has infected 12,954 and claimed 92 lives.
Delay
OrSem Head Justin Charles See (V BS PS-Mse) said this is the first time in Ateneo history that OrSem was postponed. However, OrSem will still push through on a later date, he said.
Talk and Tours (TnT) Head Kathleen Denise Go (IV AB Comm) said the OrSem Committee wants the event to happen as early as possible. “Since June 28 is earliest date possible, we are hoping to have the OrSem start by then, if not, we hope that it will be by the first week of July.”
“We hope that it would be on weekdays, Wednesday to Friday or Thursday to Saturday. It would be hard if the dates are separate,” See said in mixed English and Filipino.
Go said there were already speculations two days ago regarding the postponing of OrSem, but it was confirmed once the memorandum was released.
“Initially we didn’t think much of it because two days ago, we thought it was still negotiable,” Go said in mixed English and Filipino.
Effects of postponement
Krizanne Claudine Ty (IV BSM AMF), OrSem Deputy Head, said that some activities for the OrSem may be changed because of the postponement.
“The event most affected is the campus tours because the freshmen [will] have more or less toured the school on their own,” Ty said in mixed Filipino and English. “So we are thinking of ways to make it more interesting and relevant to them like giving brief history, trivia and others.”
As for the program proper, Ty said they will have meetings to plan about the changes in the program but nothing is final yet.
“We will still talk to the other committees, Sanggu (Sanggunian) and COA (Council of Organizations of the Ateneo),” Ty said. “We will also [consider] the volunteers since there are [classes] by that time.”
Go said training dates for OrSem volunteers, such as TnTs, Logs (Logistics) and Tours, are also postponed. “We will first talk about the date of the OrSem, then that is the time we will schedule date[s] for the trainings, preferably a week before the actual OrSem.”
‘Fortuitous’
Ty said this is an unexpected event for all, but they are trying to make the most out of it.
“This is a fortuitous event. We are sad but we won’t let it affect us. After all our priority is still the health of the freshmen,” Ty said. “So we assure everyone [OrSem] will be bigger and it won’t matter that we started it late.”
“Our initial reaction was sadness but we understand them and we are very optimistic that it will push through,” he said in mixed English and Filipino.
Sanggu Secretary-General Katrina Morales (IV BS Psy) said, “We see the rationale of the decision regarding the changes with the OrSem. Details with respect to the OrSem are still being negotiated.”
“The school boards and OrSem committee are doing their contingency plans already. Updates will be given to the student body once finalized,” Morales added.
Does this also mean that class opening will be moved?
Isn’t June 28/July TOO late?
Hi Quito! We are not sure, but we are watching out for updates on that. We will keep you informed as soon as possible.
kawawa naman yung freshmen.. masyado nang late, bakit ung ibang schools naka pasok na ha wala namang namamatay. parang oa lang…
Why are you deleting comments regarding how the freshmen think about this?
Wow, and it’s supposed to be sumkindov initiation rite for us. What a way to start the year. (To think that we’re the school’s 150th batch. Ha ha.)
OA talaga. DX
then wouldn’t it be reasonable to postpone classes as well? after all, we will be in contact with everyone in the caf/library/classrooms the entire day. it’s even worse than a “large gathering,” if you think about it. doesn’t make much of a difference from running around campus [during orsem].
its actually a good decision considering A LOT of ateneans came from abroad.
lets not risk it.
THIS IS NOT OA, FOOL.
I hope the decision regarding the OrSem date is still negotiable. One of the purposes of OrSem is to let the freshmen meet their blockmates and “introduce” the LS environment to them. It would kind of defeat the purpose if its done after classes start.
Doctors say that A(H1N1) virus causes just the usual flu. and those who died from it actually died because of complications. i hope ORSEM will still push through before the opening of classes because it will be really helpful for the incoming freshmen.
this is such an exaggeration. seriously, what a very sad beginning for supposedly a great year ahead…you might as well not have an orsem at all, since the freshmen would have made their own impressions of the Ateneo…
I’m dumbstruck. I’m actually excited for OrSem and for college to start… but… people are too scared… and the fact that a lot of us go abroad in summer is worth thinking of too… I just hope it doesn’t cause any major disruptions especially since a lot of us can’t wait to start college life…
i think postponement is ridiculous — it’s true that people going to school is a bigger threat than the 3-day orientation seminar. i think the decision shows much disregard for the committees who were working hard on the OrSem.
more destructive than the swine flu is this brand of paranoia.
This is really unreasonable. First, yeah given the situation, 15k people will be in school on the 15th, so whats 2k on the 10th?
Second, we are not even a hotzone. and look at the world, 78 dead out of 7800. thats 1%. And thats worldwide. People die more from eating too much lard, and you find that in the cafeteria.
And third, its so weird that if we follow this logic, eating in the caf where we may well reach 500 is to be avoided coz we might get sick while eating lunch.
Its silly. It is OA. Bird flu wasn’t as bad as this, Mad Cow wasnt as bad as this.
ASTEEEEEEEEG. Katlog’s the TNT head!!
Mga kapwa Atenista!! Grabe naman yata tayo mag-react! Hindi ba tayo rin ang nagiging OA?!?!
Sobra naman yata ang pagpapahalaga natin sa orsem. Diba ORIENTATION SEMINAR lang naman siya? Masyado nating ginagawang big deal e! Pwede namang mabigyan ng orientation ang mga freshmen sa ibang paraan. Vehicle lang naman ang orsem eh. Marami pang pagkakataon like ENGLISH at INTACT, diba?
Wag naman tayong OA. Na-aapektuhan lang tayo dahil labas ito sa comfort zone natin.
If they’re going to postpone gatherings with more than 500 people, they might as well move school to June 28! The fact that a lot of Ateneans will be coming back from abroad doesn’t justify it because those same Ateneans will be in school with the rest of us anyway! They’re going to be in the cafeteria, in the halls and in our classes!! The board is ruining all the hard work the Orsem Committee put into organizing this event and they’re taking away so much from all the freshmen. The Orsem is practically a rite of passage! Ateneo wanted to start it’s sesquicentennial anniversary with a bang.. Well, congratulations! It definitely did. I’m going to go shoot myself now.
aww. that’s sad news for us freshies who are super excited for the orsem. i hope i won’t be late for my first classes because of the prolem in finding my classrooms. i suggest that if we could have the tours during the first day. if possible only. i agree it’s kinda OA.
Postponing the OrSem should go hand in hand with postponing start of classes. What use will it be if we postpone OrSem but not the opening of classes? It’s still very much the same. Students and teachers alike will still come in close contact to each other on classrooms, cafeterias, tambay areas, and even in the library.
what a great way to start the 150th year of ateneo. a doctor said on tv not to be scared since more people actually die from getting the normal flu, than the swine flu. its just an exaggeration. what would the orsem be like if it were held around late june already? campus tours? by then that’d be meaningless.
The whole cause of postponing the OrSem to a later date will be lost if we still have June 15 as the first day of classes. The number of people attending OrSem is a much much fewer than the number of students who will be in school on the 15th. Might as well close the cafeteria altogether as about 500 or more students go there in a single time to eat and hang around.
i was so excited for orsem, i think it’s quite unfair to our batch not to have the orsem at the right moment.
To the incoming freshmen: It’s not as if you’re going to die if your OrSem is not on time! Patience is a virtue. And it’s something that you must learn now that you’re in college. Otherwise, you’re going to have problems in school sooner or later…
Well, there you have it. Logical reasons coming from the LS community and from incoming freshmen of the LS community.
OA ang pag postpone ng orsem?
OO definitely OA to. Considering other schools like DLSU already started their classes and a lot of them also went abroad, this is actually very OA. We don’t see the media talking about a widespread H1N1 infection in schools. All I’m seeing is the halili scandal. O___O
I was really dumbfounded and at the same time, disappointed the moment I read the posts above.
OrSem is reaally something that we, freshmen are looking forward to this year and postponing it because of a stupid virus is unbelievable. OrSem would serve as a briefing or introduction before we start our regular classes. Thus it should be done FIRST before anything else. My gosh.
If then it’d be moved to a later date, say June28 then better if school be moved too. Besides, I don’t see any difference between the two events since we’d still be mingling and associating with other people who might have gotten from other places inflicted by the virus. And it would be unfair for the organizers. They’ve worked so hard for this to be realized especially now because it’s Ateneo’s 150th. And MOST OF ALL it would be very unfair for us students as it would be influential as we go through our college life.
I’m just wondering why some schools would be opening their school year on the 15th, 8th or even on the first of June if big gatherings should be done at least on the 28th.
Hoping for the best. *fingers crossed*
Yeahboi!=)).Ayos mas matagal summer!=))
This sucks.
HONESTLY> Holding the OrSem after classes begin defeat it’s true purpose, really.
The OrSem would definitely help us incoming freshmen to the Atenean’s way of life and if done after classes start, then we’d ost definitely have a rough first few weeks. It sucks that we have to start college that way and it would be totally unfair to us.
What’s the point of delaying it, really? Classes still start on the 15th. If the univ. is really serious about this, then the logical thing to do would be to postpone classes as well, right? But clearly, they’re not doing that.
Isn’t there anyway we can change the minds of those in charge? Like start a petition of something?
SORRY. TYPO *The OrSem would definitely help us incoming freshmen get acquianted to the Atenean’s way of life and if done after classes…
err~ what a way to start our college years.. excited pa naman karamihan.. how about the enrollment? the classes?
woah. i think the school is overreacting. hmm. so sad..
I don’t see any reason to postpone OrSem if classes still start as scheduled. Aren’t classes also considered as big gatherings? People would still be in direct/indirect contact with each other. So what’s the use of delaying OrSem?
Ngayon tuloy kinakabahan na ako sa mga magiging blockmates ko… Sino sino kaya ang mga magiging kaibigan ko. Baka mawala ako sa Ateneo, ang laki pa nmn nun.
so does it mean that start freshmen classes are delayed as well?
Kindly inform us of the latest updates about the OrSem.
Thanks!(:
a specialist on infectious diseases said that the ones who die from the h1n1 flu are the people who are weak and sickly in the first place.
i don’t know if that helps, but i still want orsem to push through BEFORE classes start because it would be boring for us freshmen if we already know the campus well
bale gimik nalang yung orsem.
I just hope that the delayed orsem would be enjoyable and a fun activity to join…