Tag: July 12, 2011

UST HAS unveiled a new logo, but many Thomasians are not exactly excited about it.

The new design encloses the University seal in a circle set in yellow. An outer black ring contains the words “UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS” and “MANILA 1611” in white font. The old shield-like seal is retained and placed at the center.

According to a memorandum issued by Secretary General Fr. Florentino Bolo, Jr., O.P. last June 21, the Council of Regents approved the revised design in a meeting that same day.

But the logo soon became a hot trending topic on social networking sites soon after “UST QUADRI,” the Facebook page maintained by the Office of the Secretary General, uploaded a digital copy.

NOT EVEN the country’s “leading architecture school” made it to the list of top performers in the June 2011 board exam as a result of stricter rules imposed by the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC).

For a university or college to qualify as a top performing school, the PRC now requires 50 or more examinees, and a minimum 80-percent overall passing rate.

College of Architecture Dean John Joseph Fernandez said he was “disappointed” that UST was not declared the top architecture school this year.

The University got an overall passing rate of 78.79, with 208 out of 264 examinees passing. The result was better than the 72.70-percent passing rate last year, where 240 out of 330 examinees passed.

IT WAS baptism by flood.

Instead of the traditional “rite of passage”, freshmen got an initiation of sorts to campus life as some were among the nearly 500 students left stranded by flooding last June 23.

Officials decided to postpone the yearly Thomasian Welcome Walk—wherein freshmen gets symbolic welcome by passing through the Arch of the Centuries—and cancel the day’s classes at around 4 p.m. amid heavy downpour.

Flood submerged the Sampaloc area at around six in the evening, prompting officials to evacuate students.

Freshman Joshua Buccat of the Faculty of Engineering said the postponement of the Thomasian Welcome Walk gave him an even more memorable experience of his first day.

ALL PIONEER graduates of the five-year Clinical Pharmacy program passed the June 2011 pharmacy board examinations, while four Thomasian pharmacists made it to the top ten.

The results released by the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) last June 29 showed that UST ranked first with 84.80-percent passing rate (including both Pharmacy and Clinical Pharmacy programs) or 290 passers out of 342 examinees.

Last year, UST acquired an 89-percent passing rate, or 241 passers, but with lesser examinees of 270.

Those who made it to the top-ten listwere Ma. Nikka Angela de la Cruz at sixth place (90.72 percent), Monica Gutierrez at seventh (90.42 percent), Jasmine Wong at ninth (90.25 percent), and Kevin Jace Miranda at tenth (90.15 percent).

MORE practice needed.

A 25-minute general evacuation drill last June 30 revealed a critical gap in UST’s disaster response strategy: coordination.

The 10 a.m. drill put to test the evacuation plan in cases of earthquake designed by the Crisis Management Team, headed by Vice Rector for Finance Fr. Manuel Roux, O.P.

“The drill [was] good. Thomasians were very cooperative and you saw how organized the colleges were,” said Office for Public Affairs director Giovanna Fontanilla, who is also a member of the Crisis Management Team.

But Orly Revalo, president of the Red Cross Youth Council-Engineering Chapter, said students got confused with the sound system in the Roque Ruaño building.

TWO NEW degree programs in the Faculty of Arts and Letters (Artlets) attracted a total of 94 students, a number higher than what officials had expected.

The AB in English Language Studies had 59 pioneer students at the start of the academic year, while AB in History had 35 freshmen.

“[Artlets] belong to the liberal arts, [and] I cannot imagine a liberal arts college without language courses and a history course,” said Artlets Dean Michael Anthony Vasco. “History and English Language Studies are mainstream liberal arts and humanities disciplines.”

Since the University offers post-graduate degrees in history and English, Vasco said it was appropriate to put up undergraduate programs.

THE UST Singers received encores and standing ovations in their International Concert Tour 2011 from May 3 to June 20 in Europe.

The 18-year-old choir, conducted by Fidel Calalang—International Federation for Choral Music member and recipient of the Parangalang Bayan Award for National Achievers—serenaded the cities of Hamburg, Berlin, Hanover, and Frankfurt in Germany, Malle in Belgium, Torrevieja, and Valencia in Spain.

The UST Singers’ concert repertoire include “Broadway con Brio,” “O Magnum Mysterium,” and “O Naraniag a Bulan.”

FACULTY of Arts and Letters (Artlets) alumnus Wilfred Ritona placed second in the Philippine Leg of the World Quizzing Championships (WQC) held at Murphy’s Irish Pub in Makati City last June 4.

Ritona, a Political Science graduate, scored 91 points and ranked 368th among 1,483 participants from 32 countries.

Two other Thomasians entered the top seven of the WQC Philippine Leg. Artlets’ David Nadora landed on 6th place (79 points) and Rhovee Vistan, from the Faculty of Engineering, on 7th place (75 points).

The Philippines ranked 21st in the “top-performing nations” list with 292 points.

A COMMUNICATION Arts alumna took the center stage as she played a lead role in a Korean musical play.

Cherrish Maningat-Bae, the only Filipino in the cast of Arirang Fantasy, plays the role of a Filipina whose Korean husband died and ended up taking care of their daughter, her mother-in-law, and their farm.

“It was hard because since I can’t speak Korean as fluently as the locals but not being able to speak the language fluently doesn’t make me inferior,” she stated on a friend’s website.

Composed and directed by Song Shi-hyeon, Arirang Fantasy will be touring 20 cities in Korea from June 8 to July 30. R. L. Antonio

TWO THOMASIAN prelates became new “shepherds of Jesus Christ” after receiving the “pallium” from Pope Benedict XVI in Vatican last June 29.

Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma, 61 and Tuguegarao Archbishop Sergio Ulteg, 67, received the pallium, together with 40 other metropolitan archbishops from 25 countries, during the conferment rites at St. Peter’s Basilica. Palma and Utleg were the only Filipinos who received the pallium this year.

The pallium is a white, circular vestment worn around the neck, breast, and shoulders, with two pendants hanging down at the front and back, given to a new archbishop. Bishops may receive the pallium as a mark of “special favor,” exemplifying their participation in the supreme pastoral power of the Pope.