The “law” was laid down on the first day of classes when he asked us to sign a contract. If one wanted out, this was the time. Among many other things, the contract stipulated that after he had already opened his mouth to start the day’s lesson, no one could enter the classroom anymore. He said that he would wait five minutes to give us time to transfer from our previous classroom to his. Fair enough. And so, as happens with me- chanical engineering students anywhere anytime, the law got tested. One classmate, a Reserve Officers’ Training Corps officer no less, showed up late one day, weighed his options as he stood by the back door and decided to get from the door to his seat in stealthy fashion while the professor was busy writing on the blackboard. Without turning around, the professor intoned, “You, didn’t you sign a contract with me at the start of class?” The officer beat a hasty, snappy retreat amid stone silence in the classroom. The nervous laughter came later after class, and the incident passed onto lore.
The title “dean” alone instills awe.
To have been considered a “terror”
at the same time scales up the level of nervousness upon encounter.
Still and all, Dean Oscar Baguio was my kind of teacher. He prepared for his academic encounter with students, and did he prepare very well! His lectures in general and derivation of formulae in particular were always crystal clear and without any loose ends. Solving his laboratory exercises was always rewarding. His sample problems were always elegant, designed to bring out the thermodynamic principles involved. His quiz- zes were even more elegant.
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker