Tag: April 8, 2013

NEW US State Department cables released by the Wikileaks website have revealed behind-the-scenes efforts by Americans to impose population-control policies on the Philippines and undermine the Catholic Church’s opposition.

The release of the electronic telegrams, dating back to the 1970s, comes amid numerous legal challenges to the reproductive health (RH) law, which was rammed through Congress by the Aquino administration last December.

The latest Wikileaks release consists of more than 1.7 million records from 1973 to 1974, with about 205,901 records associated with US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

IT WAS trust that brought the more than 8,000 Thomasian graduates of Batch 2013 a step closer to their dreams.

Rector Fr. Herminio Dagohoy, O.P. congratulated the graduating batch and thanked them for putting their trust in UST during the Baccalaureate Mass last March 19.

“I would like you to realize that in your life as a student, you have achieved your dreams because you trusted many people,” Dagohoy said in his first baccalaureate message as Rector of the University.

UNION bosses have called the attention of University officials on supposed delays in the salaries of professors caused by the slow processing of teaching appointments.

In his Feb. 5 letter to Vice Rector for Academic Affairs Clarita Carillo, Reynaldo Reyes, USTFU vice president for grievance, pointed out that a teaching appointment is a prerequisite to the issuance of teaching assignments. The Office of the Vice Rector for Academic Affairs (OVRAA) issues the appointment upon the recommendation of the dean and the submission of required documents.

THE UNIVERSITY’s two high schools placed second and third among Manila-based schools in the National Achievement Test (NAT) last year, under a new ranking system implemented by the Department of Education (DepEd).

Public and private high schools were grouped together depending on the number of examinees, following complaints over a supposedly “unfair” system of ranking schools.

Fielding 96 examinees, the UST Education High School (EHS) ranked second out of the 15 schools in cluster four, or schools with 55 to 99 examinees.

“[The results] show that in some subjects, we [received] higher [grades] compared with the school that ranked first [but], when it came to Science and Math, mas mataas sila,” said EHS Principal Loreto Sauz.

ACHIEVEMENT is not about prestige but being a person in the service of others.

Batch 2013 valedictorian Christopher Rey Dacanay, an 18-year-old graduate from the Faculty of Pharmacy, reminded his fellow Thomasians to keep the virtues of humility and generosity—the same qualities St. Thomas Aquinas, UST’s patron saint, possessed.

“In a time when creed is to flaunt what you possess, when self-centeredness becomes an attitude, when humility and charity do not stand a chance, we, Thomasians, stand out,” Dacanay said in his speech during the Student Awards Day last March 15 at the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion.

LESS THAN half of examinees from the Faculty of Civil Law passed the Bar exams, as the national passing rate plunged to the second lowest in history in what was described by the dean himself as a “bloodbath.”

UST posted a 48.57-percent passing rate, with only 34 out of 70 examinees making the cut. Among the 34 who passed, 31 were first-time takers.

The national passing rate plummeted to 17.76 percent, equivalent to 949 out of 5,343 examinees, the lowest since 2000 and the second lowest passing rate in history.

THE success of a teacher is measured not by the number of articles published or awards received, but by the recognition of students of his or her ability to change their perspectives.

This was Rector Fr. Herminio Dagohoy, O.P.’s message during ceremonies honoring 107 outstanding faculty members at the 14th Dangal ng UST Awards last Feb. 7.

“Kung totoong mahusay ang isang guro, kung ang kaniyang mag-aaral ay natututong mag-isip nang malaya at lumikhang pang-unawa bunsod ng tiyaga at masusing pagpapaliwanag, ang dulo ng lahat ng ito ay pagtatagumpay,” Dagohoy said.

With the advent of technology, teachers must update themselves on the latest developments in their respective fields, he added.

UST’s Journalism program has been declared a Center of Development (COD) after a series of evaluations by the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd).

The Polytechnic University of the Philippines was also conferred the COD status, while University of the Philippines (UP) in Diliman is the lone higher education institution that obtained the Center of Excellence (COE) status in journalism.

The recognition given by CHEd last March 22 to the journalism programs of the three universities will be effective until May 2014.

RESEARCH in the academe plays a key role in the country’s development.

But universities should abolish the “publish or perish” rule and instead “protect, publish, and profit,” even with the dearth of research in the Philippines.

In the opening ceremony of University Research Week last January, Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (Ipophil) Director Carmen Peralta said research in universities “should not remain in library shelves to become mere references,” but also improve the quality of life.

“Universities are forming companies and [they are] earning from their research,” Peralta said in her keynote speech at the Civil Law auditorium. “Google is a product of University research.”

NO INFORMATION technology school yet for the next academic year.

Contrary to the announcement by Faculty of Engineering Dean Philipina Marcelo, the planned spinoff of the Department of Information and Computer Studies (ICS) has been put on hold.

Marcelo, however, stressed that the process of separating ICS from Engineering remained in progress, but was “undergoing several phases.”

“We cannot afford to spin ICS off into a new college without making sure that it will be very strong,” she said. “ICS will still be a part of the Faculty of Engineering but there will be major changes definitely, in terms of administration. But I cannot talk about it yet because, like I said, it’s not yet approved.”