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.