Tag: June 18, 2010

ASIDE from Pope Benedict XVI, Spain’s king and queen have turned down an invitation to grace the 400th year celebration of the Pontifical and Royal university.

Vice Rector Fr. Pablo Tiong, O.P., in an interview, confirmed that King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofia of Spain will not attend UST’s Quadricentennial in January next year.

“They (king and queen of Spain) will designate a special representative, but I do not know if it will be a member of the royal family,” he added.

Tiong said the Spanish throne did not give a reason for the rejection of UST’s invitation.

THE SANTO Tomas e-Service Providers (Steps) scored the lowest satisfaction rating, in an annual “exit” survey, in the aftermath of the late release of last semester’s grades.

STePS, which is also in charge of the UST website, was deemed by students as the “most important” administrative office, scoring an average of 3.77.

Data from Office of Planning and Quality Management showed that STePS gained the lowest satisfaction score of 2.63, in a scale of zero to four, with the latter being the highest.

Fr. Arthur Dingel, O.P., assistant to the Rector for planning and quality management, attributed STePS rating to problems encountered by students on the UST website.

JUST in keeping with the times.

The AMV-College of Accountancy will adopt next school year an automated way of computing grades after a successful trial during the final examinations for summer classes.

College Secretary Josephine Relis said Opscan Insight 4 OMR 202, the counting machine purchased from supplier Syrex Corp. can evaluate 2,000 test papers in an hour.

“We’ve wanted to acquire this machine for a long time. Now the students will know their test results within minutes after the exam,” Relis said.

The same machine is also being used by the colleges of Rehabilitation Sciences, Medicine and Surgery, Nursing and the Admissions Office.

NEGLIGENCE caused in the blaze at a restaurant in the multi-deck carpark last April 23, the Manila Fire Department has found.

Chief Arson Investigator F02 Bernardo Carta said stocked oil at the Sticks and Bowls restaurant has the cause of fire that burned down P20, 000 worth of property. Initially, the fire department blamed an overheated exhaust duct for the incident.

However, Carta declined to give a copy of the incident’s full report to the Varsitarian, saying there was an “agreement” between him and Selegna Holdings Corp., carpark deck operator.

“There was negligence, but to whose responsibility I cannot say. It is between us and the company,” Carta said in a phone interview, without elaborating.

WELL-LOVED UST literature pedagogue Milagros Tanlayco devoted her life to imparting the knowledge and beauty of literature to eager students. After nearly six decades of mentoring countless students, who have become great literary writers and literature teachers themselves, Tanlayco succumbed to a stroke last May 10. She was 78.

“She was a dynamic professor with a sense of drama,” said Ferdinand Lopez, a former student of Tanlayco who now teaches literature at the Faculty of Arts and Letters.

“She is strict but at the same time sympathetic to the needs of her students,” said Theology professor Crispulo Acuña, who was also a student of Tanlayco.

BUBUHAYIN ng Unibersidad ang Kagawaran ng Filipino matapos itong buwagin tatlumpo’t isang taon na ang nakalilipas at ilapat sa kasalukuyang Kagawaran ng Wika

Ito’y ibinalik para makisabay sa pagdiriwang ng ika-apat na raang taon ng Unibersidad sa 2011.

Si Imelda de Castro, isang propesor ng Filipino sa Faculty of Arts and Letters, ang mamumuno ng baging departamento sa darating na semester.

Ayon kay Marilu Madrunio, puno ng Kagawaran ng Wika, mas mabibigyang pansin na ang mga pangangailangan ng mga propesor ng Filipino ngayong may sarili na silang kagawaran.

THOMASIANS finally got their own UST-Globe subscriber identity module (SIM) card during the enrollment for school year 2010-2011.

A booth was set up at the first day of enrolment last May 31, where students got their own UST-Globe SIM, exclusive to Thomasians through a tie-up between the University and Globe Telecom. About 2,000 SIM cards were initially distributed to University employees, alumni, and faculty members on May 5.

Emily Cioco, marketing field supervisor of Fonetech said Globe Telecom aims to distribute some 16,000 SIM cards by June 12. Fonetech is the official distributor of the special Globe SIM card.

THE UST campus is now equipped with closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras as school facilities were renovated under a yearly summer maintenance program.

Facilities Management Office Director Fr. Roberto Pinto, O.P. said his office is also planning to install CCTV cameras inside buildings, aside from road intersections across the campus.

“The recordings of the camera cannot be erased. Rather hi-tech, it can be used for police work as well as surveillance.” Pinto said.

Security Office chief Joseph Badinas said the surveillance cameras will ease their security operations easier.

THE UST Singers bagged nine awards in three separate international choral competitions during their latest European tour.

In a message to the Varsitarian, Fidel Calalang Jr., conductor of the UST Singers, said the choir has been getting awards during its 18th international tour that started last April 9 and would end in July.

The choir took four first prize awards in the 17th Bangor International Choral Festival April 22 to 25 at Northern Ireland in United Kingdom.

They won first place in the Mixed Voice, Madrigal Singing, Open Choral and Sacred Music categories. They were also awarded as the Best Visiting Choir in the festival.

THE CENTRAL Student Council (CSC) plans to address old problems in the quadricentennial school year, particularly the delays in the passage of the UST Student’s Code, considered the centerpiece project of the celebration as far as student leaders are concerned.

“We are here to provide the projects that we feel the students need,” Leandro Santos, CSC President said in an interview.

The council has lined up projects such as unified information dissemination, sustainable environmental campaigns, thorough grievance consultation, “lasting awareness” of students’ rights, intensified security building and focused community development projects. It also wants to enrich Thomasian pride.