News

THE CENTRAL Commission on Elections (Comelec) dismissed Lakas Tomasino Coalition’s (Lakas) protest that sought the nullification of election results from the College of Nursing last month following the misprinting of ballots.

THERE’S a difference between killing and allowing the patient to die.

Thus said Rector Fr. Tamerlane Lana, O.P. on physician-assisted suicide during the seminar “Ethical Issues on Death and Dying” last Feb. 19 at the Faculty of Arts and Letters audio-visual room.

“People have a right to die with dignity as much as they have a right to life,” Fr. Lana said. “But to the advocates of physician-assisted suicides, dignity refers only to the ability to control one’s life and to free oneself from pain, otherwise one is better off dead.”

SOME 30 Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) delegates lauded the UST Center for Drug Research, Evaluation and Studies, Inc. (UST-Cedres) after touring its facilities at the UST Hospital last Feb. 24.

According to Parulian Simanjuntak, executive director of the Indonesian-based International Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Group, UST-Cedres can even help achieve the standardization of Indonesia’s generic drugs and improve their marketability worldwide.

STRUCK with a sun bolt!

After “sticking its feet” into Burlington Shock-XT socks, the UST Center for Research on Movement Sciences (CRMS) tested Sunbolt, a new local sports drink, and found that it is at par with international brands.

According to CRMS director Prof. Joven Cerdenia, tests showed that Sunbolt was “comparable” to leading thirst quencher and “significantly better” than ordinary water in terms of the test subjects’ performance after intake.

A ranking Department of Science and Technology (DOST) official urged Thomasian researchers to “dig deep” into their understanding of research and development, during the 2005 Science and Technology Undergraduate Research symposium last Feb. 17 at the Thomas Aquinas Research Complex auditorium.

Engr. Niñaliza Escorial, DOST-Industrial Technology Division chief, said researchers should consider new technological innovations that would harness research productivity.

HEADS up, astrologers and horoscope readers.

A Belgian professor stressed Astrology’s rational basis last Feb. 22 at the Martyrs’ Hall of the Ecclesiastical Faculties building, during the lecture, “Astrology and Cosmology in Early Modern Europe: Some New Perspectives.”

Steven Van Den Broecke, a professor from the Catholic University of Brussels in Belgium, explained that there is logic in astrology, the study of the position of stars and planets and their relation to fate. He said astrological phenomena may also involve the sciences.

PHILIPPINE theater pillar and UST alumna Zeneida “Bibot” Amador was honored posthumously with the Presidential Medal of Merit Award (PMMA) last Feb. 22 at the Rizal Hall of the Malacañang Palace.

In an interview with the Varsitarian, Cecille Guidote-Alvarez, executive director of the National Commission on Culture and the Arts, said the award was in recognition of Amador’s contributions to Philippine theater.

FOR THE Aetas of Tarlac, industrialization is perceived not as a sign of progress but as a threat to their ancestral land.

The claim of the Bamban Aeta Tribal Association (BATA) of Tarlac over their ancestral land was threatened when Malacañang ordered to put its titling on hold and have the land revalidated.

The UST Office for Community Development (OCD) and its partner community, the Bamban Aeta Tribal Association (BATA) of Tarlac has long applied for the certificate of ancestral domain title (CADT), which was supposedly awarded last December.

While early scientific accounts have challenged the story of the Exodus, claiming there had been “no Israelites in Egypt” during Pharoah Ramses II’s time (basing on the lack of historical records), Egyptologist James Hoffmeir, in Discovery Channel’s documentary, Who was Moses? (1996), said there were, indeed, enslaved Israelites based on archaeological proof.

SEVERAL professors from different universities urged students from different schools to promote education reforms during an education summit last Feb. 18 and 19 at the Fr. Angel de Blas, O.P. Hall of the Main Bldg.

Philippine Normal University (PNU) professor Rene Romero suggested education reforms through more civic programs and student organizations, which, he said, are instruments for “constructive change” that will channel the idealism and vigor of the youth toward serving the people.