DIMENSIONS

SILAK, its your time to shine

Christopher M. Millora

Silak.

Familiar? Never heard?

Nope. I am not talking about the fraternity just like what it is

most often mistaken as.

Yes. You are probable right. “Silak” is not the most popular name

that echoes in this university. It’s still not the biggest organization

WVSU has. But little did we knoew that when it comes to campus

journalism and commitment to excellence, the “silak” of their light

shines brighter than what we expect.

Silak, by the way, is the award-winning college publication of the

College of Education. Its office, that little room just above the Male’s

CR of the Education building, looks unsuspicious. But behind that door

that says “Welcome to the Silak Office”, excellence is being brewed.

I guess it’s not high time for us to focus that spotlight at this

college publication.

As of today, the awards-list of Silak is longer than the Amalia

Deles Drive. And when I say awards, I mean big time. Don’t you know

that the college publication that we often mistaken as a fraternity, is a

hall of famer in the College Press Conference (COPRE) after receiving

nine consecutive awards as the Best Departmental Publication? Not

only that. Silak is also a three time awardee of COPRE’s very

prestigious Graciano Lopez Jaena Award for Best Departmental

Publication. Just recently, the Department of Tourism awards Silak’s

tabloid and magazine as the Most Tourist-Oriented Publication. The org

also received the San-Ag Campuys Press Awrad for Best College

Magazine just these past months. And to think, these are just major

group awards. Their office is still flowering with heaps and heaps of

individual awards won by their staff members; awards that if

mentioned, will be able to fill this entire page.

Yes. The awards Silak received are surprising. But, honestly, what

awed me most are not the awards alone but the fact that they are still

hesitant to publish these awards. Ana Carmella Ferraris, editor-in-chief

of Silak at present, shared to me that they don’t publish in Silak the

awards that the publication and the staffers received. Perhaps, this is

the reason why no one realized that the paper or the magazine that

they are reading is a multi-awarded one. Certainly, Silak doesn’t desire

the limelight. More than just their awards, they want to be known for

their write-ups, for their lay-outs, for the things that they put on the

paper. Ferrariz even said, “Gusto namon, pagkakita nila sang article

ukon sang lay-out, makahambal sila nga ‘Ay! Silak ni.’ [It us our (Silak)

desire that when they (the students) see the articles or the lay-out,

they can say ‘Yes! This is Silak!’]. Some say that the articles that they

produce don’t have a much stronger opinion compared to other

publications. But according to Ferrariz, what they are trying to do is to

turn these negative issues and make then a positive one. If we come to

think of it, the name is Silak, they can’t help but to look at the

“brighter” side of things.

It is true that the name “Silak” is not the most popular name in

this university. I have tried to ask several students and some of them

really have no idea what Silak is. Some would say it is a fraternity in

UP. However, if we look deeper to what Silak has accomplished

throughout the years, and to the objectives and goals that they want to

achieve, we realize that Silak is indeed worthy of recognition from this

university, that this publication is something that every WVSU student

should be proud of. And even for the coming years, Silak will continue

to excel, Silak’s light – shining, shimmering, splendid – will continue to

blaze.

Silak.

Now you know. Now we become prouder.