UP ASSOCIATION OF POLITICAL SCIENCE MAJORS

INTRODUCING THE CANDIDATES....



SOME OF THE QUESTIONS ASKED....






For the full article.. visit the APSM tambayan. :)

SECCOM PREPARES FOR THE EVENT




POSTER: WITH CALOY AS REIGNING MISS APSM...




..TO BE REPLACED BY MISS NICA ETCHOSERA (DOM DIOCERA), THE NEW REIGNING MISS APSM 2007




AUSTIN WITH HIS JAPANESE KIMONO COSTUME AND THE REST OF ACADCOM




SULONG APSM!





PICTURES BY MISS JAIME PRING :)

Last August 17, 2006, UP Association of Political Science Majors with the UP Debate Society participated in the Alternative Classroom Learning Experience (ACLE). They showed the movie, RULES OF ENGANGEMENT showing Samuel Jackson and Tommy Lee Jones.... Naks! Magpanggap daw bang pormal-pormalan. But seriously, welcome to the UP APSM blog!!!

Attended by mostly applicants from both organizations and other students who found the movie interesting, PH 324 was packed with students waiting for the movie to start. Registration took 30 minutes, but all went well after that.


ACLE Poster!!!

MOVIE SYNOPSIS.
Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/rules_of_engagement/about.php

When a routine security mission at the U.S. embassy in Yemen goes awry and 85 civilian demonstrators are killed, decorated Marine Colonel Terry Childers is court-martialed for breaking the "rules of engagement" by a nervous national security adviser. Childers calls upon his old buddy from Nam, military lawyer Hays Hodges, to defend him in court. Determined to get to the truth, Hodges must rely on his soldier's instincts as he follows an explosive trail of cover-ups and half-truths that lead to the highest corridors of power in this action-packed drama from the director of THE FRENCH CONNECTION and THE EXORCIST.


When anti-Western demonstrators surround the U.S. embassy in Yemen, decorated U.S. Marine Colonel Terry Childers (Samuel L. Jackson) is ordered to secure the premises and "baby-sit" the embassy's staff. Upon arrival, the soldiers find the embassy besieged by snipers and an unruly mob. Childers leads a daring rescue of the ambassador (Ben Kingsley) and his family but in the process loses three men. With bullets flying from all directions and the not-so-peaceful demonstrators breaking down the embassy's gate, he orders his men to open fire on the crowd. When the smoke clears, 83 Yemen civilians lay dead, including many women and children. Back in the States, National Security Advisor Bill Sokal (Bruce Greenwood)--hoping to deflect criticism from the U.S. government and defuse a mounting international crisis--appoints young gun "New Yawk" military lawyer Major Biggs (Guy Pearce) to prosecute Childers for violating the Marine's "rules of engagement." Facing life in prison and possible execution if convicted, Childers calls upon cynical military lawyer Colonel Hays Hodges (Tommy Lee Jones), an old friend whose life he saved in Vietnam, as his reluctant advocate. But with the evidence stacked against Childers, Hodges must draw upon his soldier's instincts to defend his client from both the political careerists in need of a scapegoat and his own troubled past.

[end of outsourced article]

DICUSSION BY PROFESSOR QUILOP:

DILEMMA OF PERSPECTIVES
Sir Quilop gave a brief overview on one of the issues with Military warfare, the problem with sympathizing with officers. He claims that things are different when you are on the ground and when you are in the luxury of the examining room, that's why calling a verdict is never that simple. He asserts that doing your job on the ground can push soldiers to call shots that may deviate from the rules of engangement and indoing so, you get pinned down for it. Is this fair, he asks, people make crucial decisions on the line of fire and that is a important factor to be considered.



PROFESSOR QUILOP GIVES A LECTURE ABOUT CIVILIAN-MILITARY RELATIONS


PROFESSIONAL TRAINING: GOOD OR BAD THING?
It is important that the military undergoes professional training because these are the people who hold he guns and have a monopoly of legitimate use of force. The issue of judgment call from these officers is something that highly concerns, not only the state, but coequally, it's citizens. That si why you need rules to temper those judgment calls, hence, the rules of engagement.

But perfect military training also has its dangers. Is it ok when they can follow orders perfectly? For civilians, that may not sit well. Why? Because civilian and military codes of behavior are different. Military is trained to fire first before asking questions. The police should be trained differently. Trained to ask questions first before firing.

That's why the Philippines is problematic, Sir Quilop asserts. Because our police, which is suppose to be a civilian entity, is trained in the military. More importantly, we have put the military in the frontline of almost everything, including domestic counter-insurgency operations. The military is suppose to go against foreign aggressors, not fellow countrymen. They should not be involved in domestic affairs; it is suppose to be the POLICE.

RULES OF ENGAGEMENT
These are specific items on how a military is how to conduct himself on the ground. Even though states have agreed to go to war, they do so with a set of rules-- in a gently, manly manner. For example, prisoners of war have rights and privileges. That is why torture is never reasonable, but when you are on the ground, things are different. Why do we have these rules? Becasue basic human rights have to be respected.

[end of notes from the lecture]

PICTURES.


THE AUDIENCE LISTENS INTENTLY.


PROFESSOR QUILOP ADDRESSES THE AUDIENCE.


LECTURE ON CIVIL-MILITARY RELATIONS.


LISTEN AND LEARN. ACLE.