Saturday, March 30, 2024

Tag: July 30, 2012

Lacson flyover project starts

EXPECT even heavier traffic for months in the university belt area as the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has begun widening Lacson Avenue to prepare for the construction of the Lacson flyover.

Sidewalks will be trimmed by five meters to give way to the Japanese-funded flyover, which will be high enough to allow the future Metro Rail Transit Line 9 on España Boulevard to pass underneath.

Danilo Idos, director of the DPWH’s Urban Road Projects Office, said road widening, which began last July 16, includes drainage work, base preparation, application of mixed gravel and binder, and paving of the gutter and sidewalk.

UST ousted in world university rankings in English, Literature

UST is out of the top 200 universities in English and Literature this year, left behind by other Philippine universities with more established language programs.

Leading Philippine schools on this year’s list is Ateneo de Manila which ranked 24th. The University of the Philippines (UP) and De La Salle University (DLSU) trailed at 32th and 44th, respectively.

Last year, UST ranked 104th in the same category, after UP, Ateneo, and La Salle which placed 34th, 35th, and in the 51-100 bracket, respectively.

Installation of security cameras draws jeers

STUDENTS and professors are alarmed over the installation of hundreds of additional security cameras on campus, saying no consultations were held over a matter that could violate a person’s privacy.

UST now has more than 1,000 closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras, including the second phase of 725 additional spy cameras installed in six buildings.

Student Organizations Coordinating Council (SOCC) President Benjamin Zoilo Mario Ravanera III said students would feel like being “unfairly trapped in a cage” with cameras watching everyone’s move.

Prayer rally vs RH bill set on Aug. 4

CHURCH leaders have called for a prayer rally on Saturday, Aug. 4 at the EDSA Shrine, ahead of a crucial vote on the controversial “reproductive health” (RH) bill at the House of Representatives.

The “Prayer Power Rally against the RH bill” is being organized by different Church and lay organizations from various dioceses, led by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines’ (CBCP) Episcopal Commission on Family and Life (ECFL) and the Archdiocese of Manila.

The rally at the historic EDSA Shrine, site of two peaceful “people power” uprisings, will be held from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. There will be a Mass at 5 p.m.

Pharmacy tops board; six land in top 10

UST WAS named the second top-performing school in the July 2012 Pharmacy licensure examination, with six Thomasians landing on the Top 10, including first place.

The University recorded a passing rate of 88.92 percent, equivalent to 281 passers out of 316 examinees, data from the Professional Regulation Commission showed. This year’s board passers included 269 out of 293 first-time takers and 12 out of 23 repeaters.

Last year’s passing rate was 84.80 percent, with 290 out of 342 UST examinees passing the test.

Manila City Hall: Pumili ng tamang dormitoryo

BAWAL pagsamahin ang mga lalaki at babaeng mag-aaral sa iisang dormitoryo.

Ito ang napag-alaman mula sa mga opisyal ng siyudad ng Maynila, na nagbigay-babala sa mga may-ari ng dormitoryo at boarding houses na sumunod sa mga patakaran—lalo na sa mga ordinansang nagtatakdang pangalagaan ang kaligtasan ng mga mag-aaral—kung ayaw nilang maipasara.

Ipinasara ng pamahalaang lungsod noong Hunyo 2010 ang Active Dormitory sa España Boulevard na dating tinutuluyan ng mga atleta ng Unibersidad, dahil sa paglabag sa Ordinansa Blg. 4765 na nagbabawal na patirahin sa iisang dormitoryo ang mga babae at lalaki.

Ayon kay Jesus Marzan, city administrator, layon ng ordinansa na iwasan ang mga insidente tulad ng hindi inaasahang pagbubuntis.

Social inequalities tackled in int’l medical conference

SOCIAL inequalities across the Asia-Pacific must be addressed to expand access to healthcare, experts said in a forum earlier this month.

Dr. Julieta Gabiola, clinical associate professor at Stanford Medical School, said poor people are more prone to malnutrition and diseases as they do not have access to basic healthcare services.

“Poverty, hunger, and malnutrition stalk one another in a vicious cycle,” Gabiola said during the 33rd Asian Medical Students Conference held at the Medicine Auditorium.

Dr. Mario Villaverde, associate dean of the Ateneo de Manila School of Government, said the government should invest more on preventive measures rather than curative and rehabilitation services, as the former are the least expensive among treatments.

Students protest laboratory breakage fee

THERE’S also “bill shock” in UST.

Students are questioning how laboratory breakage fees are being computed, prompting the Laboratory Equipment and Supplies Office (LESO) to come up with a “transparency program.”

Pharmacy Student Council President John Mark Villena raised the matter in a student-administration dialogue last June 27, pointing to a number of “discrepancies.”

“LESO only declares the amount a student must pay without any breakdown of what that price is specifically for, and without any chance of asking if we really broke glassware or if that really is the price,” Villena said.

UST leads heritage preservation of Vigan

HOW DO we preserve Vigan, the country’s only heritage city, for generations to come?

UST’s solution is to educate local architects on historical and cultural preservation.

The UST Center for Continuing Professional Development (CCPED) and the Center for Conservation of Cultural Property and Environment in the Tropics (CCCPET), together with the United Architects of the Philippines, recently conducted an intensive, theoretical, and hands-on program in maintaining classical Spanish structures in Vigan, Ilocos Sur—the only Philippine city recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (Unesco) as a World Heritage Site.

Civil Law eyes Commercial Law center

THE COUNTRY’S oldest law school plans to open a center for Commercial Law next year in a bid to specialize in legal developments affecting businesses.

The center will conduct research and offer courses on business and commerce laws, Faculty of Civil Law Dean Nilo Divina told the Varsitarian.

“If there are recent developments in commercial law, UST will be the first to publicize it,” Divina said.

With the establishment of the center, UST law graduates will be sought after by top employers, and it will be easier to acquire grants for scholarships and other projects, he added.

Only the University of the Philippines College of Law has a law center, focusing on Political Law, he noted.

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