The Ilocos Times

By Noralyn Onto Dudt COLLABORATION is one of those terms with both positive and negative meanings.   Unfortunately, a younger me used to associate the word only with mischief as in "collaborating with the enemy" in time of war; or collaborating with someone to cheat the system; or to do harm to others.   And then about four decades ago when I was tasked to edit scientific reports for publication in journals, I came to recognize and appreciate its positive meaning:   The Action of Working with Someone to Produce or Create something.   When a research scientist writes a paper explaining the result of an experiment for publication in a scientific journal, he or she cites his references—those past experiments that he/she tried to replicate or ones that had similar theories but also went beyond or diverged into other direction for other goals. For example, a theory might be: "if patients with metabolic syndrome have dysregulation of cellular lipid metabolism, could it be be

By Noralyn O. Dudt The adage , "NECESSITY is the mother of invention" comes to mind when we pause to take stock of where we are in this COVID-19 era and see that 11 vaccines are currently in use worldwide.   Certainly, a technological feat, as it has only been barely a year when the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a pandemic. Those 11 vaccines are being successfully injected into people's arms but they are not enough to fulfill the global need in the short term. According to Science News, only about 1.9 percent of the world's more than 7 billion people have been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus as of April 5 th . As the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines need to be stored in freezers, transporting them to far-flung areas can be logistically challenging. The necessity for other types of vaccines that would not require refrigeration has spurred scientists to think "outside the box."   To reach herd immunity around the globe we need as man

By Dominic B. dela Cruz  (Staff Reporter) Laoag City —The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Ilocos Norte 1st District Engineering Office (DEO) emerged as number one in the current year disbursement rate (DR) for the first quarter of 2021. DPWH 1st DEO district engineer Maria Venus Torio announced that this is in recognition of their effectivity and efficiency in managing financial resources with a rate of 36.26 percent. “ Kapag sa disbursement rate ang pag-uusapan, mabilis kasi ang Ilocos Norte 1st DEO mag -implement ng projects at mabilis ding magbayad ,” Torio noted. Torio identified road projects and flood control projects which were easily completed unlike buildings. Completing the top 10 DEOs are Upper Kalinga, Laguna 3 rd , Zambales 2 nd , Abra, Bacolod City, Tarlac 2 nd , Pampanga 3 rd , Pangasinan 2 nd , and La Union 1 st . While the bottom 10 DEOs are Quezon City 1 st , Leyte 3rd, Rizal 2nd, Bohol 3 rd , South Cotabato 2 nd , Negros Occidental 2 nd

The books that came from Gilbert Grosvenor 's collection. Gilbert Grosvenor was the founder of the famous National Geographics Magazine.  His home (now a museum) is on Grosvenor Lane, just a few blocks from the author’s house. By Philip Dudt The time is almost 50 years ago in a place about as far from the Philippines as one can go. We (Philippine Group 39) are being trained in Burlington, Vermont in a boy’s prep school by the Center for International Living to become Peace Corps Volunteers. We were really a “mixed-bag” assortment of trainees as new and older college graduates in science or math from across the U. S. with different types of life experiences. Some folks were hippy types and others were more serious like me. My background was the least typical, a two-year leave of absence from my job as a civilian engineer in the U. S. Navy.  The plan was to train us volunteers in just three months to work with Philippine math or science teachers to introduce newer science/math tea

PAGUDPUD  third term and consistent senior SB member Ferdinand Garvida formally announces his intention to run for mayor the coming 2022 local and national elections  (Doms Dela Cruz) By Dominic B. dela Cruz  (Staff Reporter) Pagudpud , Ilocos Norte—A three-way fight for the chief executive post in this town looms in the coming elections next year. Three-termer and consistent senior Sangguniang Bayan member Ferdinand Garvida disclosed his intention to run for mayor in the upcoming election. “ Saan a mailingeden appo ta agradwarak met ngaminen ket ti unus iti tallo a pinag konsehal ko, siyak latta iti nagbalin a number one kas resulta iti pinangay-ayat dagiti tao kaniyak ,” Garvida stressed. He said his family has already decided for him to run for mayor. His family includes his sister Pagudpud Liga ng mga Barangay president and Sangguniang Bayan ex-officio member Maricel Garvida, who will be his running mate. He likewise added that he has already formed his line up though he

By Leilanie G. Adriano  (Staff Reporter) LAOAG CITY—The Ilocos Norte provincial government keeps on inspiring farmers to increase their productivity with the continuing distribution of livelihood assistance such as additional agricultural inputs and equipment to mango, rice and vegetable growers in the province. Recently, the provincial government distributed a total of 2,749 bags of commercial fertilizers, 23,200 packs of humus, 1,120 carrageenan and foliar fertilizer to registered rice and corn farmers, both in the first and second districts of Ilocos Norte.  For mango and vegetable growers, they likewise received 845 bottles of insecticide and 3,860 vials of fruitfully attractant while other high value crops associations and backyard vegetable growers received 800 units of knapsack sprayer, 30 power sprayer, 525 rolls of irrigation hose, one unit shredding machine, 50 units grass cutter and 40 units of jetmatic pump courtesy of the Sustainable Development Center (SDC) of the I

The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) urged anew local government units (LGUs) to avail of its free contact tracing training program (CTTP) as the country is now experiencing a surge in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases. It can be recalled that at the onset of the pandemic last year, TESDA Secretary Isidro Lapeña immediately ordered the registration of more health-related programs and tasked the agency's Qualifications and Standards Office to develop competency standards on contact tracing. He likewise directed the TESDA Technology Institutions (TTIs) nationwide to register the program and partner with barangay health centers, LGUs, Philippine Red Cross (PRC), or Department of Health (DOH) facilities in their areas. With this, TESDA, in September last year, has started offering free contact tracing training program to support the country's fight against the spread of COVID-19. From September last year up to March this year, based on r