INTRODUCTION

PEOPLE
Yano
Romeo Lee
Manny Villar
Nur Misuari
Benjie Paras
Dino Ignacio
Eraserheads
Jerry Barican
Obet Verzola
Jessica Zafra
Zider Lubiano
Myla Algarme
Gary Granada
Raymond Red
Mike Defensor
Jerome Bailen
Eric Altamirano
Amante Jimenez
Miriam Defensor
Malou Mangahas

ISSUES
ID
UAAP
STFAP
US Bases
Collegian
Frat Violence
SAMASA split
SR controversy
Sexual Harassment

Call Dino Ignacio everything - weird, quaint, maniacal - but never ever say his websites suck.

Proof: his "Bert is Evil!" site (www.bertisevil.com or www.fractalcow.com/bert), which easily romped off with the 1998 International Webby Awards for "Weirdest Website." Hailed as the "Oscars of the Internet," the Webbys is the preeminent honors for websites.

"Bert is Evil!" is out to prove that the Sesame Street character is not the innocent and harmless puppet we all thought him to be. Yup, we've always suspected that something was going on between Bert and Ernie. In Ignacio's site, we are treated to more of Bert's compromising situations, from a serial killer mug shot to a bedroom scene with Pamela Anderson Lee to the poster of "The Devil's Advocate."

Queer. And yet totally amusing.

Weirdness, I must say, defines most of Dino's drawings and paintings. "Sigaw Saklolo," his underground magazine credited with having revolutionized the local contemporary comic scene in 1992, explored themes of rebellion, sexuality, insanity and social justice.

The webmaster entered UP in 1994 and took up Certificate of Fine Arts Major in Painting. He was a typical guy, they say. Typically rich - the looks, the signature clothes, the Mercedes sports car. But nonetheless goofy and outrageous.

Dino later joined the Artists' Circle, a fraternity based at the College of Fine Arts (CFA). He also ran as chairman of the CFA Student Council when he was on his third year. He won, of course, because he was unopposed. But he became too involved in other commitments - comics, books, computers - and so eventually skipped college.

His long-standing fascination with computers and technology gave birth to the Fractal Cow Studio, a pre-press digital imaging studio, which specializes in comics, album cover designs and posters. He also tried his hand at writing prose. In 1997, he released "The Tower of Misunderstanding," a fairy tale-love story, highlighted by impressive digital artwork and computer graphics. At 25, he is currently a partner of Xsite Internet Center, an internet café cum computer shop located at SM Megamall.

A somewhat frustrated thespian, he had a short stint on TV, hosting the "A-probe!" segment on GMA's The Probe Team in 1998. Afterwards, he left for the States to pursue a degree in Computer Animation at the San Francisco School of Arts.

When Dino sets his mind on something, he gives it his best. Dino's friend, a Fine Arts professor, related how Dino reacted vigorously when he was teased about how "pangit" his newly constructed Fractal Cow home page was. It was a joke, of course, but Dino couldn't take the ribbing. He rabidly defended the site and even called the mentor "antiquated."

Because, you know, the site truly was awesome. Even the insidious Bert would agree to that.