My T-SHIRT Memories - Part 1 (UP Shirts)

I remember in my Psychology 101 class at UP Diliman many years ago, when I was taking BSCE -  one of the questions in our exam was about remembering and memorizing techniques. One of my answers was "I used photos, postcards or mementos to  remember moments not dates." The teacher commented, "that's nice, I will use that."  I wish to share moments, stories and events through my T-Shirts. Whenever I travel, my favorite souvenir is a T-Shirt, to remind me of an event, a memory or a person. Some of my T-Shirts are gifts and there is also a memory or a person associated to them. Memories are timeless treasures of the heart - they are hard to let go.  Apple, my partner and wife often nags me: "Hoy, gutay gutay na yang T-shirt mo, donate mo na yan!" But who would want to forget moments, people and treasures that became part of you? 

So let me start my T-Shirt Memories Series with my UP T-shirts. This is the Engineering LOGSCRIPT T-Shirt.

The Engineering Logscript T-Shirt. This shirt was designed by Royce Villanueva and I when we were members of the editorial board of the Engineering Logscript in 1981-1983. The Engineering Logscript was the official paper of the UP College of Engineering during our under-graduate years. Our editor-in-chiefs then were Jesus Espina for 1982-83 (BSIE major) and Gerry Agustin for 1981-82 (BSCE). I was the managing editor then and Royce was our art and lay-out editor. During those times, printing  college papers was very strict and censored by the government since Marcos was still the president then. I remember that we have to find a printing press willing to print our articles (some of them are critical to the government). Our printer then was the printing office of Jose Burgos of WE-Forum and Malaya. We had ts spend long hours at their office at QC. It was through this engagement that I experienced editing and lay-outing a newspaper. 

Engineering Logscript Staff 1982-83

Geof  wears my Logscript shirt. The shirt is now preserved in my cabinet.

The Oblation T-Shirt. I  remember buying this shirt at the UP COOP. I gave s similar shirt (blue color) to my high school batch mate, Arch. Jose Boy Nava on his birthday then. The oblation, the UP statue in front of the University Avenue is a symbol of freedom. I hope the scholars of the country, the UP alumni  will continue to promote honor and excellence in whatever profession they pursue. But sometimes our Iskos are asleep like the oblation in the shirt design. Time to wake up, "mga iskolar ng bayan"! As the Abraham Sarmiento (UP Collegian, 1975) urged students during the Martial Law years: "Kung hindi tayo kikilos sino ang kikilos? Kung di tayo kikibo, sino ang kikibo? Kung hindi ngayon, kailan pa?"

The Oblation T-Shirt. 

The UPD Fishballs T-Shirt. Fishballs or "tusok-tusok" are the favorite street food of UP students. For student scholars like me then who live on a very tight budget, fish balls are the favorite snack. So whenever my family goes to UP especially after the Holy Mass at the UP Chapel, we always eat fishballs plus squid balls at the UP COOP. Now that the UP COOP is gone due to a fire, it is now very difficult to find the fish ball vendors at UP. The T-Shirt design of the the UPD Fish balls is a collector's item. It is a work of art designed by an artist (Luis Esteves). I remember buying this shirt when Art Libongco, a friend and batch mate (UP CE'83) came home from the US. We visited the UP Coop and I accompanied him to buy some UPD souvenirs. 

UPD Fishballs T-Shirt

The UP Engineering T-Shirt.  I remember designing UP Engineering T-shirts during Engineering Week. Royce was my collaborator. My first design was a closed fist with symbols of engineering technology like a crane in 1982. My second design in 1983 is the Engineering sundial. After this design, the UP COOP T-shirt designers included UP Engineering shirts in their collections. And the T-shirt above is one of them. I remember buying five pieces of this design to distribute to my UPCE'83 AISC friends, Art Fabia, Sammy Hernando, Victor Macam and Matt Lutao in one of our reunions at the place of the Hernando's in 2006. I also gave one shirt to Art Libongco during his visit in the Philippines in 2008. Reminiscing college days - the study groups, the pretty girls we just admired (torpe nga e!, kaya AISC :-), the terror teachers who loved us (take two for some of us), the lunch breaks at Yakal Hall, the movies at Cubao, the sumptuous food at Chopsticks Chinese resto (Cubao), 3M pizza at Cubao, the overnight trips at the San Mateo Hills, the Los Banos outing with the partners and more funny stories - strengthened the bond among friends - the AISC Gang and family!

UP ENGG T-SHIRT

The UPAE 100 Years T-Shirt. The UP College of Engineering celebrated its 100 years in 2010. It was indeed a great day to celebrate its foundation having produced engineering graduates in various engineering professions - civil, industrial, mechanical, electrical, geodetic, chemical, environmental, energy, electronics and related fields. So when I attended the alumni reunion,, I made it a point to buy a souvernir of the event. Mabuhay ang mga Inhinyero ng Bayan!

UPAE 100 Years