Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Tag: March 13, 2012

4th term for De la Rosa mulled

RECTOR Magnificus Rolando de la Rosa, O.P. will end his third term this month, but a fourth term is a possibility.

The University’s 95th rector, however, said that he would rather prefer the life of a simple Dominican after his term. But it all depends on “God’s will,” he said.

“After my term, I just want to concentrate as a Dominican priest— teaching, writing, and studying,” De la Rosa told the Varsitarian. “After my [second] term as Rector in 1998, I decided na ayaw ko na, pero kung saan-saan din ako napunta,” he said. “Buti na lang at nakayanan ko naman.”

Thomasian places 5th; Civil Law posts 88.5% passing rate

A THOMASIAN has entered the Top 10 of the bar exams for the first time in nearly a decade, while UST’s passing rate jumped to 88.52 percent in what has become a doubly memorable Quadricentennial year for the Faculty of Civil Law.

Christian Louie Gonzales ended UST’s nine-year drought in the bar exams, placing fifth with a score of 84.09 percent.

UST posted a passing rate of 88.52 percent for first-time takers with 54 out of 61 examinees making to the cut.

Civil Law faculty secretary Arthur Capili said the official passing rate of UST for this year has yet to be released by the Office of the Bar Confidant of the Supreme Court. In 2010, UST had a passing rate of 68 percent with 70 out of 103 aspirants passing the exam.

Addition of two more years in high school beneficial, PNoy says

PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III said adding two more years to the basic education program would strengthen the country’s global competence by making Filipino students at par with those from developed countries like Japan and Korea.

“‘Yung [mga] estudyante natin sa dinatnan nating sistema, 10 years lang mag-aaral; pipilit mo doon sa 12 years na katapat, tapos mayroon pang plus-plus dahil doon sa lahat ng tutorial niya,” Aquino said at the Fourth National Congress of the Coordinating Council of Private Educational Association, Inc. (Cocopea) at the Quadricentennial Pavilion last Feb 28.

The President also said the newly enacted Republic Act No. 10157 or the “Kindergarten Education Act” will help pupils prepare for the new system.

6% tuition hike seen next sem

NEXT academic year, tuition in UST will go up by P72 per unit—the highest increase in five years.

Under the proposed schedule of fees released by the Office of the Vice Rector for Finance last Jan. 30, tuition will amount to P1,279 per unit starting next semester, a six-percent increase from the previous P1,207 per unit. 

If approved, this will be the highest rate of increase since 2007, when tuition went up by 6.2 percent. In previous years, tuition increases were adjusted based on inflation.

Medicine posts perfect score in board exams

The UNIVERSITY maintained a 100-percent passing rate in the recent licensure exams for physicians, but no Thomasian entered the list of topnotchers.

Meanwhile, UST improved its performance in this year’s licensure exams for architects, but slid to second place in the recent physical therapy (PT) licensure examinations and failed to keep its spot as the second top-performing school in the occupational therapy (OT) board exams.

In the medicine boards, all 24 Thomasian examinees passed this year’s “off-season” test. Last year, UST also posted a 100-percent passing rate, with 26 Thomasians making the cut.

Tagle to UST: Be agents of renewal

PROPOSALS seeking to transform society are “bound to fail” as they ignore Christ and are not guided by the Holy Spirit, Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle said on the last day of a three-day University retreat.

He also called on UST to pursue its mission “to mirror to the wider society the picture of renewed humanity.”

“From the perspective of faith, true renewal of the history of structures, of creation and of humanity, will happen only through the action of God,” Tagle said in a one-hour talk during the “Neo-centennial Retreat” held from Feb. 22 to 24 at the Quadricentennial Pavilion.

UST fraternities condemn hazing rites

FOLLOWING the death of a San Beda freshman in a fraternity “hazing,” students from the Faculty of Civil Law—particularly members of fraternities and sororities —have denied that they engage in the same activity.

Marvin Reglos, a 25-year-old alumnus of the College of Commerce and Business Administration who went on to take up law in San Beda, is the latest victim of hazing, which supposedly happened during fraternity rites in Antipolo City last Feb. 21.

In a statement released by the Civil Law Student Council (CLSC), Thomasian law students protested a demand to prohibit fraternities and sororities arguing that such a measure would not stop physical violence.

Nursing is Theology quiz contest’s champion anew

AFTER a decade-long hiatus, the College of Nursing reclaimed its championship title in the recently revived inter-collegiate Theology quiz bee at the Medicine Auditorium last Feb. 3.

Besting 12 other colleges in “Teomasino 2012,” the Nursing team got a total of 32 points in the elimination round and 93.33 percent for the extemporaneous speech in the championship round. The College of Tourism and Hospitality Management (19 points, eliminations; 92 percent, speech) and College of Science (25 points, eliminations; 91.33, speech) placed second and third, respectively.

Institute of Religion secretary Allan Basas said the extemporaneous speech competition was included in the final round to measure the students’ knowledge in Catholic doctrines.

Law dean enjoins students in campaign vs. divorce

THE DIVORCE bill is a threat to both the nation and the family and is unconstitutional, the dean of the Faculty of Civil Law said.

“[The] divorce bill is unconstitutional because it does not strengthen, and in fact, weaken the family,” Civil Law Dean Nilo Divina said at the 11th Saint Thomas Aquinas’ Forum last Feb. 2 at the Civil Law Auditorium. “Divorce is like a medicine, only that it is not recommended and could produce vast side effects.”

Irregularities mar student elections

ELECTION officials have taken back the proclamations of two candidates in the hotly contested Central Student Council (CSC) polls, following errors in the vote count.

The March 5 decision led to the declaration of Raymond Angelo Gonzales of Lakas Tomasino Coalition (LTC) as the winner in the race for CSC vice president, and Cris Angelo Salazar as public relations officer or PRO.

Next academic year’s CSC will be dominated by LTC, which won a total of five positions versus Lakas ng Diwang Tomasino’s (Lakasdiwa) one winner.

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