“Time To Leave Technical Journals Behind And Launch Popular Science Magazines!” The Editor In Chief, Filipino. “We Can Transform” – American Popular Science

“We can transform” – says the above cover of that issue of the 250-year old (1872) old American magazine Popular Science. With the May/June 2017 issue, it died – I want to resurrect it in the Philippines! Or publish a Filipino science magazine if I can find funding.

I want to point out that what prompted my creative mind this time is this news, grammar edited by me: “This SA Professor [Has] Just [Been] Ranked Second-Best Mathematician In The World” by Mildred Europa Taylor (19 Nov 2022, Face2Face Africa, face2faceafrica.com):

A professor from the University of the Free State (UFS) in South Africa has been ranked as the second-best mathematician in the world and No 188 in all of science, technology, and engineering in Stanford University’s Top 2% Scientists in the World.

Abdon Atangana [above, inset right] is a Professor of Applied Mathematics at the Institute for Groundwater Studies at the UFS. Stanford University created the list of the top 2% of world-class researchers based on citations over their full careers, according to UFS. The list was published in September and highlights 195,605 researchers who make up the top 2%.

Reading carefully now, you will note that Stanford U is listing the “top 2% of world-class researchers based on citations” – do you know what that means? The criterion for being labeled as “world–class researcher” is the number of citations you have received from other researchers in their published papers in technical journals.

That is science published for personal credit, not necessarily science for people’s benefits – the honor belongs only to the scientist; the value of the publication does not necessarily belong to the readers, the people!

Scientific journals serve the selfish interests of scientists – not the selfless interest of the people!

I writer-editor demand that the world publish popular science magazines today!

In the Philippines, I suggest the name “Popular Farming & Gardening.” Above, I stuck a photo of William Dar on the image, because I know as PH Secretary of Agriculture (Aug 2019-June 2022), he has the needs of farmers more in mind than those of aggie scientists. (He is also a farmer.)

Note: The main image above says, “59 tales of resilience in the face of disaster” – those are helpful stories for people. But I want more – we have to deal with “natural disasters”!

The major “natural disaster” complex confronting us today is “Climate Change.” I choose Mr Dar as the next PH Secretary of Agriculture because he declared, after he received the “1^st MS Swaminathan Global Leadership Award for Sustainable Development 2022” in New Delhi on 10 Nov 2022 – “It's Time To Consider Regenerative Agriculture” (17 Nov 2022, The Manila Times, manilatimes.net).

In that Times column, Mr Dar says, “Being the first awardee named after Dr Swaminathan, I owe it to him to champion regenerative agriculture as one of the solutions to level up local and global food production.” Additionally: To solve Climate Change and Farmer Poverty. No more could we Filipinos ask!@517

 

“You Have To Invest In Others” Is The “Force For Good” Message Of Miss USA, Our Miss Universe 2022

We Filipinos “lost” but at the same time we Filipinos “won” the Miss Universe 2022 title with Miss USA’s R’Bonney Gabriel who is actually a Filipino-American. I was rooting for Miss Philippines, but you can win them all, can’t you?

The immediate lesson from the contest that I see is that our candidate Celeste Cortesi should have been well-versed, at least acquainted, with current events. ANN says (Author Not Named, 15 Jan 2023, ABS-CBN, news.abs-cbn.com):

During the first round of question-and-answer portion of the international pageant, Gabriel was asked what change she'd like to see in Miss Universe and why.

She answered: "For me, I would like to see an age increase, because I am 28 years old and that is the oldest age to compete. I think it’s a beautiful thing. My favorite quote is ‘If not now, then when?’ As a woman, I believe that age does not define us. It’s not tomorrow, it’s [not] yesterday but it’s now. The time is now that you can go after what you want."
(Upper image from rappler.com)

“Age does not define us.” You are very welcome to say that to me – I’m 82 (Sept 17)!

Gabriel, whose father is Filipino, wore a creation of Filipino designer Rian Fernandez for her evening gown during the coronation night. Fernandez was the same designer who created Gabriel’s gown during the preliminary competition. Her eye-catching “woman on the moon” national costume… [was itself a] creation of [another] Filipino designer, Patrick Isorena.

2 Filipino designers for 2 Filipina beauties.

Those eye-catching gowns are for Beauty – here’s what’s for Brains:

In the final Q&A, the Top 3 contestants were asked how they would work to demonstrate that the Miss Universe is an empowering and progressive organization should they win the competition.

This is the first time I see that the Miss Universe contest is being pushed as “an empowering and progressive organization” – excellent news for Beauty & Brains!

How would Miss USA use her title “Miss Universe” to reflect an empowering and progressive organization? This is her reply:

Well, I would use it to be a transformational leader. As a very passionate designer, I’ve been sewing for 13 years, I use fashion as a force for good. In my industry, I’m cutting down on pollution through recycled materials when I make my clothing. I teach sewing classes to women who [have] survived from human trafficking and domestic violence and I say that because it is so important to invest in others, invest in our community and use your unique talent to make a difference.

“I use fashion as a force for good. … I’m cutting down on pollution… It is so important to invest in others, invest in our community…”

Emphasized during the contest was that the new Miss Universe crown is called “Force For Good.” That’s a winner! Congratulations to Jakapong “Ann” Jakrajutatip, owner. I say, not only Miss Universe 2022 but all of us with our talents should be forces for good!@517

UP System Sleeping With Science? Slipping, Yes!

Is the University of the Philippines System – “UP System” (also simply referred to as “UP”) – indolent in disseminating its own scientific researches & technologies via its own publications? Yes. Unfortunately, The UP System is a Lazy Juan! The proverbial “Juan Tamad.” Slothful. I am saying that as an alumnus who differently learned his writing, editing, publishing, up to digital communication, on his own, teaching himself, beginning when I was in high school in the mid-1950s. UP is not teaching itself & practicing digital abilities! UP must prove its own intelligence by teaching itself!

The 8 component universities of the UP System, from UP Baguio to UP Mindanao, conduct researches for development (R&D) incessantly, but publish results infrequently, even none, zero. Shame on all of UP!
(Images: “Sleeping” from TED, ted.com, UP logo from ovcaa.upd.edu.ph)

There are 8 UP components: UP Baguio, UP Cebu,, UP Diliman, UP Los Baños, UP Manila, UP Mindanao, UP Visayas, and UP Open University (UPOU) – and each one of them is niggardly publishing its own scientific & technological findings & recommendations!

I have written:
(1): 02 May 2020, “UP System Is NOT Contributing To The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) According To 2022 Times Higher Education (THE) World Ranking – As An Alumnus, I Ask, “Is UPLB Concerned?” (The Editor In Chief, the-editor-in-chief.blogspot.com);
(2) 16 Aug 2020, “University Of The Philippines ‘Sleeping with Science’” (The Editor In Chief, the-editor-in-chief.blogspot.com); and
(3) 17 Aug 2020, “Sleeping With Science, 2. Waking Up DoST From Its Rip Van Winkle Slumber On Science Stories!” The Editor In Chief, the-editor-in-chief.blogspot.com).

Today, I will explain the Rip Van Winkle-like sleep of the UP System as neither the indolence of the Indios nor the absence of desire to publish, but the absence of digital expertise to publish! The Editor In Chief should know – you cannot cope with the demands of publishing if you do not know digital desktop publishing (DTP)!

No, I don’t have a school for teaching young staff to do DTP for technical journals – but as a UPLB alumnus, I am volunteering to help even as I recommend right now that the UP System set up a special institute for digital works within the UPOU, without restricting age, background, or experience. I will now call the special institute the:

University of the Philippines Institute of Digital Expressions of Available Science (UP iDEAS).

UP iDEAS is where old and young geniuses can learn and then show digital mastery and then some… from typing drafts to formatting texts & paragraphs, from column assigning to sectioning, from working with graphs & diagrams & photographs – the works!

(I just saw online a UPLB journal whose latest issue is almost 5 years old – March 2017! There is no publishing mindset within UP Los Baños? My alma mater!)

We need UP iDEAS! That institute would educate anyone interested physically but mostly virtually, with scientific knowledge easily recorded, reported, published and circulated in newsletters and journals – there would be born a mental scientific culture within the UP System, inspiring & instructing everyone. “Push on UP and go into Win!”@517

Thesis Or Dissertation, You Need An Editor. Advice: Choose The Better & Faster – Digital Editor

Is there a perfect thesis editor? A near-perfect, yes – but not if he reads and edits only once! He must read word-for-word at least 3 times. And not if he edits only on printouts/hard copy and not digitally. Digital editing is more efficient and many times faster. Advice: Submit thesis manuscript to someone who knows Microsoft Office like the palm of his hand.

(“Thesis” from Expert Editors, experteditors.net; “Thesis Editing” from Scientific Editing, scientific-editing.info)

“What Is Thesis Editing?” Enago asks, and answers its own question (enago, enago.com).

Thesis editing augments the overall quality of the thesis to improve the chances of its acceptance. It covers the following aspects.

Structure: A thesis consists of multiple components such as the literature review, a problem statement, table of contents, research methodology, conclusion, reference articles, etc.

Format: The thesis editing process incorporates the mandatory formatting guidelines such as choosing the Times New Roman or Arial fonts as they are commonly accepted, ensuring line spacing of 1.5 for the text, using numerals for numbers between 1 and 10, hyphenating compound adjectives, left aligning the tables, and more.

Style: … Thesis editing refines the writing style to match it with specific style guides.

Language: Thesis editing improves the overall language quality and rectifies the errors in spellings, punctuations, and grammar. It also eliminates reiteration, ambiguity, bias, and redundancy.

Proofreading: This is the final step of thesis editing. The final draft is proofread to identify and eliminate errors in language, citation, hyperlinking, etc.

(I as digital editor, I also send you 2 copies:

(1)   1^st copy with Track Changes (MS Word), so you can follow my editing everywhere – you are looking at your original manuscript, simultaneously my corrections/changes & suggestions.

(2)   2^nd copy clean, already edited, and with correct formatting, sectioning, and running pages.)

Importantly, Enago asks: “What qualities must a thesis editor have?” Its answers are:

Editing experience: … The experience enables the editors to easily align with the scope of the thesis and understand the extent of improvement needed to make it submission-ready.

Quality assurance: An author should notice the difference in the overall quality of the thesis after editing….

Subject matter expertise: … Choose a thesis editor possessing… in-depth knowledge about the authors’ subject area.

Timely delivery: … The author must consider the editor’s ability to deliver within the established timelines before handing over the thesis for editing.

Adept with the necessary guidelines: …The editor must be adept with the submission guidelines as thesis editing is not limited to only enhancing the language quality. It also includes aligning the thesis with the submission guidelines to avoid the chances of rejection.

Attention to detail: … The editor must be able to spot all the inconsistencies and most minor errors that disrupt the quality of the thesis.

Know what? The paragraphs above that I quoted from Enago have one/two editing mistake/s that is/are not obvious – I saw the error/s guided by many years of experience in writing and editing English.

You can edit an editor if you’re good!@517

Appreciating Organic Farming – And Agriculture Magazine (AgriMag), Monthly Publication Of Manila Bulletin

Here’s appreciating the eminent dangers of Climate Change in the air, literally & figuratively, and knowing the role of modern agriculture in generating greenhouse gases (GHGs) that invariably generate the climate crisis. As a crusading self-taught aggie journalist and editor in chief, I am engrossed in articles that address the climate crunch – we have to write & write about it!

My attention this time is on Agriculture Magazine (AgriMag), the one published monthly by the Manila Bulletin. AgriMag used to be edited by an acquaintance-friend, Zacarias “Zac” Sarian, who died 07 Dec 2020. I just googled the AgriMag website and I find I am the only author published who is banging his head against agriculture and its generation of GHGs. Unfortunately!

Aside: I also googled for any magazine published in the Philippines giving major attention on the climate emergency – and found zero, which is a major disaster in itself. I have been thinking of editing-and-publishing one, except that I have yet to find a financier. (Producing issues is no problem, because I can be the author of numerous articles and simultaneously the one-man band digital editor up to and including producing the portable document format that goes to the print-on-demand printer.)

As I was saying before I interrupted myself, AgriMag did publish 4 of my climate change articles:

(1)   13 Sept 2019, AgriMag, agriculture.com.ph: “Appreciating Climate Change“

(2)   03 Oct 2019, AgriMag, agriculture.com.ph: “Appreciating Organic Farming“

(3)   13 Oct 2019, AgriMag, agriculture.com.ph:  “Appreciating Organic Certification“

(4)   08 Nov 2019, AgriMag, agriculture.com.ph: “Appreciating Sustainable Development“.

Here are excerpts:

Appreciating Climate Change

Climate change is the world’s Number 1 science topic today, and it relates to crops in Agriculture such as rice, corn, and wheat.

And how does inorganic, or non-organic, or conventional agriculture contribute to climate change? From agriculture, CH4 is emitted by livestock and N2O comes from nitrogenous fertilizers used by farmers.

Appreciating Organic Farming

Today, many are talking about organic farming – but not quite knowledgeably. Organic farming applies to Agriculture and the related scientific fields of Forestry and Horticulture. To simplify: Agriculture is growing field crops; Forestry is growing tree crops; and Horticulture is growing farm & garden crops; except for Animal Husbandry in Agriculture, they all concern the growing of crops.

Appreciating Organic Certification

The OCCP [Organic Certification Center of the Philippines] claims in its webpage that “it is a standard-setting and certification body.” If there is no official certification of the status of a certain farmer, group, or product, anybody can claim that the farm produce is organic, and nobody can question that claim.

Appreciating Sustainable Development

[FAO] defines sustainable development as “the management and conservation of the natural resource base, and the orientation of technological and institutional change in such a manner as to ensure the attainment and continued satisfaction of human needs for present and future generations.”

I am sure that those 4 AgriMag articles of mine provided a good glimpse of how Conventional/Chemical Agriculture contributes to Climate Change. What I am not sure of is that AgriMag paid me!@517