Tag: December 4, 2009

THE UNITED States’ top diplomat vowed to respect the Philippine Constitution when it comes to military agreements between Manila and Washington, saying American troops are here only to train Filipino soldiers and not to engage in combat.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made the statement in a landmark dialogue last November 13, hosted by UST and aired on national television, which was the highlight of her maiden trip to the Philippines as chief envoy of President Barack Obama.

Dismissing critics that relations between the US and the Philippines were unequal, Clinton said: “We’ll continue to support you, our only interest is to see you prosper, as a friend.”

NEW APPOINTMENTS to key administrative and academic positions welcomed the opening of the second semester.

Fr. Florentino Bolo, O.P., former UST central seminary vice rector and bursar, was named secretary general, replacing Fr. Isidro Abaño, O.P., who is now assistant to the rector for “quadricentennial activities and highlights.” Abaño will direct a planning committee for the 400th anniversary of UST in 2011.

Abaño, who served for five years as secretary general, remains director of the Museum of Arts and Sciences and Faculty of Civil Law regent.

In a letter to the Varsitarian, Bolo wants to strengthen UST’s public presence through the media.

“I cannot divulge yet other wonderful plans for 2011 but I assure you that many special events are currently in the works,” Bolo said.

There will also be a review of University policies and guidelines, he said.

SOME photos are better kept in remembrance.

A digital image that showed a class at the College of Commerce and Business Administration wearing improvised “anti-cheating devices” –– cardboards on both sides of the head –– during a seatwork has drawn flak from Facebook users who condemned it as a “harsh measure.”

Edwin Suson, professor of Commerce, claimed responsibility for the anti-cheating devices, but argued the photo was “blown out of context by some Facebook users.”

“I asked my students to craft their own ‘creative anti cheating device,’ but after being advised by a colleague in the college to suspend the measure, I told [them] that the device would no longer be used,” he said.

But the students had finished making the device before Suson backtracked. “I was not even present during the time they took the picture because I had an appointment in another school,” he said.

NEXT TIME there’s a storm, suspending classes in flood-prone UST is just one text away.

UST has tied up with Globe Telecom to provide exclusive subscriber identity module (SIM) cards to students and employees, allowing them to get up-to-date University announcements.

Office of Planning and Quality Management head Fr. Arthur Dingel, O.P. said 50,000 Globe SIM cards would be distributed to the Thomasian community.

p>UST WAS again the top-performing school in the recent Interior Design, Education, Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Civil Engineering, and Librarian licensure examinations, but scored low in the Chemical Engineering board exams.

The University posted an 88 percent passing rate in the CPA exam and was the top-performing school in the 100 examinees and more category, as 273 of the 311 Thomasian examinees passed. Ateneo de Davao (68 percent) and University of San Carlos (58 percent) ranked second and third, respectively.

Six Thomasians made it to the top 10, led by fourth placer Francis Angel Reyes with 91 percent. Miken Padilla, Alissa Star Reyes, and Gibson Tan (90.43 percent) shared the eighth spot, while Cris Leo Villanueva (90.57 percent) and Jerlynne dela Cruz (90.29 percent) placed seventh and ninth, respectively.

STUDENTS seemed to prefer long queues at the UST Seminary Gym over the new online enrollment procedure, which drew only 870 enrollees.

Polly Blanco, Santo Tomas e-Service Providers head technician, said the low turnout of online enrollees showed the “natural tendency” of students to use enrollment days to catch up with each other after the semestral break.

Because of this, Blanco called for a stronger information campaign to allow students to become familiar with the online process.

“Personally, I think the University should exert more effort to disseminate information so the students no longer have to endure the long queues,” Blanco said.

The Faculty of Pharmacy had 159 online enrollees, the highest among 11 colleges and faculties allowed to use the system, while the Conservatory of Music had only one online applicant.

ON JAN. 25, 2010, UST will unveil a century-old 1.9x3 meter painting of Miguel de Benavides, founder of the University and the third bishop of Manila.

The Museum of Arts and Sciences has decided to conserve an unsigned painting of Benavides, in preparation for the quadricentennial celebration of the institution he founded through an endowment 398 years ago.

“It was painted in 1911 and was shelved in the Museum stockroom for a long time, so I guess the best time to exhibit it is during its 100th year and the quadricentennial of UST,” said Museum assistant director Anna Marie Bautista.

Bautista said the painting titled “The Foundation of the University of Santo Tomas by Archbishop Miguel de Benavides” would be transferred to the mezzanine of the Main Building. The bust of St. Thomas Aquinas there may be moved to the UST-Tan Yan Kee Student Center, she said.

“IT IS better to get an honest zero than a dishonest perfect score.” When I was in elementary, my mother used to tell me this whenever I show her my very low exam scores. Even back then, I felt the pressure to do well in school, thinking that I would receive punishment if I did not do well enough to get into the cream section in the next school year. Imagine my surprise when she first said that to me after I had psychologically prepared myself for her anger at my mediocre academic scores.

Fast-forward to 10 years later, right now, at the start of the second semester of my fourth year. I guess for some people like me, this semester doesn’t only mean their last semester as undergraduate students. This also signifies their last attempt at fancy Latin titles such as summa, magna and cum laude.

“They dodge cars; look for food in the garbage, battle malnutrition and sickness in silence… They don’t vote, they can’t speak and their “rights” are still not recognized by most members of society.”

– Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) website

CALL me mean or cruel but it breaks my heart seeing stray, skin and bone dogs more than seeing street children. Don’t get me wrong. It’s not that I hate kids, in fact I dream of bearing plenty of them. But these human beings are equipped with rational minds and enough power, if not with responsible parents, to feed and protect them, unlike pets.

WORDS serve their function as tools of communication, not arrogance.

I remember a friend of mine from the University of the Philippines-Diliman telling me back during my sophomore year about the difference between UP and UST when it comes to writers. He gave a perfect example: recruitment. Using symbolisms, he said that while UP would inquire, “do you know how to write?,” UST would ask “how good are you as a writer?.”