Welcome to Tabula

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Graduate Division

You may be wondering what happened to the front page of Synapse this week. This artsy stuff is cool and all, but does it really have to bump the news off the front page?

I would argue that not only does it have a place next to news and science, but that we need our art and literature more than ever. In a field where ambition and emotional detachment are necessary for success, this “artsy stuff” is a reminder of our shared humanity, our shared hopes and disappointments and solitude. And in light of recent events, I think we need this now more than ever.

Robin Williams said it best in Dead Poets Society: “We read and write … because we are members of the human race, and the human race is filled with passion. Medicine, law, business, engineering — these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love — these are what we stay alive for.”

In honor of National Poetry Month, we present to you Tabula, the annual arts issue of the Synapse. Within these pages are poems, stories, photographs and paintings by the multi-talented members of the UCSF community.

Jenny Qi

Tabula Editor

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Seeing the Light - Dawn Gross

Transit - Terri Mason

When Children Disappear - Jenny Qi

Please Oh Please - Eric Chang

Outside/Inside - Alice Cabotaje

Inside Out - Sarah Paris

Disappointment - Yi Lu

Chinese Poems - Translations by T. Booth Haley

BANG! - Akshay Govind