Tag: January 31, 2014

WITH K to 12 adding grades 11 and 12 to the 10-year basic education so that the Philippine system will now be in accord with the rest of the region which has longer basic school years, UST and other higher education institutions in the country are thinking of changing the school opening from June to Septmeber. The change in the academic calendar is purportedly in time for the creation of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Economic Community in 2015, the regional economic integration which would create a borderless society one of whose effects would be to allow young people from member-countries to enroll in any school in the region; thus the need for a synchronized school calendar.

THE UNIVERSITY’S housing project in Villasis, Pangasinan, a Dominican mission in the North, was finally inaugurated last Dec. 13, 2013.

UST Rector Fr. Herminio Dagohoy, O.P. and Urdaneta Archbishop Jacinto Jose, an alumnus, led the blessing of 40 houses under the Simbahayan project, “Bahay Mo, Mula sa Puso Ko,” which aims to help the victims displaced by typhoon “Pepeng.”

The typhoon hit Northern Luzon last October 2009, which caused massive floods, destroyed P27.297 billion worth of infrastructure and agricultural resources, damaged 61,869 houses, and affected seven municipalities in Pangasinan, according to the report of National Risk Reduction Management Council.

FAKE or real?

Consumers can fall for herbal medicines sold in bottles actually containing nothing but dried leaves and roots from unknown plants, said Grecebio Jonathan Alejandro, a resident researcher leading the Thomasian Angiosperm Phylogeny and Barcoding Group of the Research Center for the Natural and Applied Sciences (RCNAS).

Alejandro said he heads a UST team in the scientific project, “DNA Barcoding for Authentication of Philippine Medicinal Plants,” for the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD) under the Department of Science and Technology.

THE UNIVERSITY recorded a slightly lower passing rate in the recent licensure examinations for architects, with only three Thomasians entering the top 10 list of passers.

UST posted a 78.71-percent passing rate with 122 passers out of 155 Thomasian examinees making the cut, results from the Professional Regulation Commission showed. This was a tad lower than last year’s 79.9 percent, wherein 174 passed out of 220 examinees.

Among the 122 passers this year, 99 were first-time takers.

Leading this year’s batch of new Thomasian architects is Khimberlyn Soriano, who landed on the fourth spot with a score of 84.1 percent.

In this Year of the Laity, Catholics are called to become “heroes” responsible for transforming and sanctifying God’s people.

CBCP President Archbishop Socrates Villegas urged the laity to take part in the mission of evangelization sorely needed by the country, in the pastoral letter of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) for the 2014 Year of the Laity released last Dec. 1.

“You have, as your particular mission, the sanctification and transformation of the world from within. In fact, many of you are called by the Lord to do service in the Church,” said Villegas, who heads the Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan.

PROFESSORS from the Faculty of Arts and Letters are asking the UST Faculty Union (USTFU) to convene a special assembly to discuss the million-peso donation to “Yolanda” victims, along with questions over collective bargaining agreement (CBA) negotiations.

The Arts and Letters Faculty Association (ALFA) is demanding a clear explanation from the Union, which, in early December, opted to channel P1 million of its Christmas party fund to typhoon victims. Faculty members were requested to sign a waiver to approve the proposed donation without a general assembly.

In a letter to USTFU last Nov. 29, ALFA clarified that its members were not against the donation, but said the matter should go through a general assembly.

THE SUDDEN downpour did not dampen the enthusiasm of the crowd in this year’s Paskuhan, which was celebrated for a cause last December 20.

HE NEVER skipped classes.

Medicine sophomore Kelvin Discutido, a full scholar from the island of Talim in Rizal, did not show up for two straight days when school resumed after the Christmas break. So his classmates thought something was wrong.

Last Jan. 8, the landlady climbed to knock on the windows of Discutido’s room at the second floor of his rented apartment on Rosarito Street. When there was no response, the landlady and other tenants asked barangay officials and the police to forcibly open the door.

Discutido’s body was found lying on the floor at 3:53 p.m. It had turned purple and bloated, his eyes open and looking up, according to the police.

TWO NEW buildings were inaugurated this January as part of the University’s post-Quadricentennial infrastructure upgrade.

The new practice gymnasium at the back of the Quadricentennial Pavilion opened last Jan. 22, providing more training venues for Thomasian athletes.

The three-level structure will include sepak takraw, volleyball, and tennis courts.

UST Rector Fr. Herminio Dagohoy, O.P., Vice Rector Fr. Richard Ang, O.P., and Institute of Physical Education and Athletics Director Fr. Ermito de Sagon, O.P. led the blessing rites.

Dagohoy, in his welcome message, said sports facilities aid athletes in improving their skills in their respective sports.

IN LINE with the Church’s mission of “new evangelization,” Canon Law should serve as the “crook of a shepherd” that clears the path toward the salvation of souls, Novaliches Bishop Emeritus Teodoro Bacani said in his keynote speech at the opening of Canon Law Week last Jan. 7.

Reflecting on the theme, “Canon Law and Canon Lawyers at the Service of New Evangelization,” Bacani reminded Canon Law students of the need to become charitable pastors, emphasizing that the Code of Canon Law is not merely a source of Church doctrines and teachings.