Maybe I shouldn't have started this blog now, not with everything that's been going on.

Before I continue with relating about my classes from last week, first I would like to mention an event that happened before my Mathematical Methods class last Thursday.

My cousin and his classmates in engineering (all those who passed in electricity and magnetism under me last term) were supposed to have a long exam in Electrical Circuits 1. My cousin, in fact, was rushing to pick up three of his classmates because they asked him for help before the exam.

This is really supposed to be easy for them because these are the same applications of the series and parallel circuits that we took last term, with just some additional rules on simplifying circuits that are neither completely series or parallel (such as the delta – or triangle – configuration of connections to Y and vice versa). I kept threatening to take back the grade I gave them in electricity and magnetism class if they insist that they don’t understand what they are supposed to do.

They haven’t even gotten to the topic on Kirchhoff’s rules yet.

Anyway, when their teacher got in the classroom at a little past 8am he told them that they exam will be postponed until Monday. Why? Because coming from the faculty room he had just been informed that there would be a fire drill at 9am, right when they would be in the middle of answering his exam.

I appreciate the administration telling the faculty about the drill so that they would not schedule any activity (such as exams) whose integrity would come to question because of the less than secure circumstances surrounding a fire drill, but partly it still defeats the purpose. It is supposed to be about preparedness under any circumstances. A fire can break out during an exam.

Anyway, I was in the faculty room when the alarm sounded, and even though we passed the entrance towards the basketball courts and the road, we exited the building towards the quadrangle, which was still an enclosed space if the gate at the back was closed. Except that I noticed today it’s open.

I expected everyone to go there, but it seems that some classes did take the exits that led to the streets.

The two Big Ears have also been installed in the quadrangle, facing each other less than two hundred meters apart. There are also ropes attached to the center of each to show the listeners the horizontal distance that they should place their ear from the dishes.

Moreover, it really works! At least I could hear what my co-teacher was saying when he was talking at normal volume from the other side (the one more parabolic; I was at the one that was nearly flat), but it sounded like it was coming from a two-way radio.

Now all we have to do is come up with waterproof (since it is in an open air area) illustrated (for the benefit of small kids) instructions (including determining where to stand relative to the rope) to place beside the dishes for people to know how it’s supposed to be used.

And I’ll continue with the rest of last week’s classes, and today’s, tomorrow. Dismissed.