An Open Letter to NAMA Philippines
A condensed version of this letter was
sent to NAMA Philippines
There is a gathering
storm right here in North America. Subdued may we be,
NAMA chapters from both Canada and the U.S. have this
popular consensus that a name change from Mapúa
Institute of Technology to Malayan Colleges
should be challenged at every conceivable quarter.
Likewise, we echo the concerns and sentiments
of NAMA British Columbia regarding this issue. At the
end of this letter, various means of contact with our
Chapter are mentioned. Feel free to choose the ones most
expedient and uncomplicated from your end. We, the Mapúa
Alumni Association of Alberta, Canada, wish to:
1. Be enlightened as to the position NAMA
Philippines has taken on this critical issue.
2. Be advised on possible support and assistance our
Chapter can provide for a united front.
3. Be updated in real time, on actual progress of negotiations
and other occurrences as they unfold.
All of us have embraced the dynamics of
change both as an engineering concept and as a predestined
part of our lives. In this age of globalization, we recognize
Dr. Vea’s plans to achieve world-class stature by
U.S. ABET substantial equivalency, to introduce breadth
by technological cross-training, to create academic depth
by in-campus research, etc. We believe all these well-merited
strategies should never be at the expense and suffering
of Mapua students.
We truly believe the Yuchenco Corporation
owners need not re-invent the wheel. They are standing
on a time-tested framework of technological excellence.
One can build bigger and better, on top of Mapua’s
great attributes and solid strengths, not slash-and-burn
it. We extensively perused many a conflicting and complimentary
viewpoint from the Philippines and the rest of the world.
No amount of intellectual or moral justification can sway
us otherwise. When all is said and done, the Mapua
name should be kept at all costs.
Below are dissertations by individual members,
as well as related consensus from our Chapter at large:
Yuchenco Corporation and Dr. Vea had
to tell it plain and simple, that a name change was
inevitable. They got to tell that to avionics engineers
at Boeing. They got to tell that to doctorates in European
universities. They got tell that to payload designers
at NASA. They got to tell that to metallurgical engineers
in the Australian outback. They got to tell that to
post-grads at Stanford and Texas A&M. They got to
tell that to petroleum geologists in
Indonesian offshore platforms. They got to tell that
to nuclear engineers in Ontario heavy- water plants.
They got to tell that to mining engineers in Peru and
Chile. They got to tell that to petrochemical engineers
in Saudi Arabia. They got to tell that to systems programmers
at Silicon Valley and MicroSoft. They got to tell that
to U.N. project managers in east Africa. They got to
tell that to pipeline engineers in the Alaskan arctic.
They got to look at them straight in the eye, crème
de la crème men and women in every corner of
the globe, proud Mapuans all!
Dr. Vea’s alma mater, Massachusetts Institute
of Technology, had kept that very same name since its
founding by William Rogers more than a century ago.
MIT at Cambridge is a full- compliment university of
international renown, an engine for engineering research.
It held its ground from humble beginnings as a polytechnic
and vocational school. We want to do the same with our
school – keep that name forever more. We wish
Dr. Vea will support us with this struggle when he sees
this common thread.
Dr. Vea time and again has referred to
Wharton School, one of the best b-schools in the States,
as part of the larger University of Pennsylvania. In
the process, Wharton seemed to have kept its identity
and uniqueness. We like to cite a similar but hypothetical
example closer to Dr. Vea’s heart:
What if Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
Dr. Vea’s alma mater, was taken over by its next-door
neighbour, Harvard University, and renamed Kendall
Square College? Unthinkable. Surely, Dr. Vea would
be first to protest and cry “foul”.
Mapúa is not just a surname of several
individuals. It is Filipino ingenuity at its best. It
is a name scribbled in lunar dust, and back. Here in
the halls of academe and the corridors of industry,
there is a loud yearning to keep that hallowed name.
In concert, NAMA Alberta and NAMA Southern
California has an on-going scholarship program via the
Precy Ordinario Memorial Fund since last year. A name
change will have a profound impact on this program. We
will participate on future MapúaWorld meets, group invitations,
and other activities on a highly selective basis. To vie
for the next MapúaWorld is high on our Chapter’s
list, but now we have taken a look-and-see stance while
this issue is being resolved. We will strengthen the close-linking
of all American and Canadian NAMA chapters for rapid reaction
to critical events as this one. When all is said and
done, the Mapua name should be kept at all costs.
Like any free society, there is but a few dissenters in
our ranks. Many of us though are not content to fence-sit
and appease a wrong - the genocide of our values. We are
proud to be Mapuans!!
Mapúa Alumni Association of Alberta
