UP Association of Biology Majors

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Labels: applications and applicants, buddy month

The University of the Philippines Association of Biology Majors (ABM) held its annual Buddy Bidding activity last July 20, Monday. Members and applicants alike flocked to the Vinzon’s Hall Activity Center located on the 4^th floor of the building. The activity was set to start at 1:00 PM and last for three hours, culminating at 4:00 PM.

Applicants were tasked to line up in the narrow space right outside of the Activity Center for registration. Once the members had everything set-up inside, applicants were signing in and receiving their Buddy Points Logs, which doubled as their numbers for the bidding procedure. Those who were done logging in were lead inside and asked to be quietly seated. Shortly after everyone settled down, the Membership Committee officially initiated the year’s Buddy Bidding activity.

Hands holding numbered papers shot up into the air as the descriptions and schedules of ABM members flashed on the wall. Each applicant, upon raising his/her paper and stating whether he/she was proxy-ing for a fellow applicant, was given a chance to bid for the anonymous member using Buddy Points as currency, beginning with a minimum of 2000 points.

The highest bidder would be awarded the privilege of becoming the member’s buddy for the next month, which would serve as the time allotment for garnering the number of points he/she bid. There were also special cases wherein a single member or a pair of members generously took up the two highest bidders as buddies.

Bids generally started low but rose gradually as the activity went on. Numbers reached as low as 6,000 buddy points and peaked at 80,000, with the title of this year’s highest bidder was given to Leif Tan and his bid for member Lisa Corpuz. Members then decided to set the cap at this amount, permitting any applicant the desired buddy by bidding the roof value.

The activity closed at around 3:30 PM, ending half an hour earlier than anticipated. Applicants met up with their member counterparts and planned out their activities before evacuating the room.

ABM’s Buddy Bidding activity is a yearly tradition which lays the grounds for existing members and new applicants to bond and get to know each other. Through the buddy point system, the applicant-member duo engages in various activities designated by the Membership Committee as a way of breaking the ice and closing the gap between them.

Originally scheduled for the afternoon of July 17, the Buddy Bidding activity was postponed due to heavy rain showers and the subsequent suspension of classes.

- Charles Herrera

Labels: applications and applicants, events, org activities

Last July 11, 18 and 25, the University of the Philippines Association of Biology Majors (ABM) offered its annual tutorial for the University of the Philippines College Admission Test (UPCAT) to the seniors of Krus na Ligas High School and UP Integrated School at Institute of Biology Pavilion 4.

Spearheaded by ABM’s Academic Committee and led by Hannah Co, the tutorials tackled the four major foci of the UPCAT – Mathematics, English and Filipino and Science; with the Sciences further divided into Physics, Biology and Chemistry.

More than a hundred students attended these review sessions held on Saturday from 8AM to 4PM. During these sessions they practiced their test taking skills and were given crash course lectures on the UPCAT subject matter.

Special mention goes to ABM’s members, Joanna Cuayo, Jacqueline Canlas, Lindsay Carandang, Patrick Cruz, JC Reyes, Philippine Science High School Senior, Lance Co Ting Keh and ABM’s applicants for selflessly giving their time to assist in the tutorial sessions.

When asked to comment about this year’s tutorials, Academic Committee Head, Hannah Co said, "My committee and I are very pleased and proud of ABM, its members and its applicants, for showing such great support for this project. I am happy to say it was a great success. My only hope is that we can make it even better next year."

The review was ABM’s first major activity lined up for the school year and it appears that they’re off to a great start.

-Jann Sy

Labels: acadcomm, events, org activities