Tag: March 15, 2013

The Pontifical University joined the rest of the Catholic world in welcoming Pope Francis, who became the 265th successor to St. Peter last March 13.

Jorge Mario Cardinal Bergoglio of Buenos Aires, Argentina emerged at the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica after five rounds of balloting by the College of Cardinals in conclave at the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel.

Top Dominicans of the Catholic University of the Philippines extended prayers for the first Jesuit pope and the first pope from Latin America.

THE ADMINISTRATION has proposed a five-percent tuition increase for the coming academic year, alongside a hike in miscellaneous and other fees.

If approved, education in UST will be more expensive by P62.45 per unit, at P1,311.45 per unit, from last year’s P1,249 and 2011’s P1,207.

According to the proposed fee increases by the Office of the Vice Rector for Finance, the installment fee will balloon to P1,500, a 150-percent increase from the P600 installment fee implemented in the previous years.

Incoming freshmen will pay P800 for psychological and drug testing fee, a 144-percent hike from last year’s P328.

THE UST Faculty Union (USTFU) has sued former union officers and a property developer for allegedly faking documents purportedly to hide the theft of union funds.

Noel Asiones, USTFU vice president for legal affairs, filed the complaint-affidavit before the Manila City Prosecutor’s Office against former union president Gil Gamilla, former vice president Gil Garcia, former internal auditor Raymundo Melegrito, and Mario Villamor, president of Saturn Resources, Inc., last Dec. 6.

Respondents were accused of seven (7) counts of falsification under Article 172 of the Revised Penal Code.

THE UST Faculty Union (USTFU) has brought its P97-million claim for accumulated hospitalization and medical benefits to the Supreme Court.

USTFU filed a petition for review on certiorari last Dec. 7 to reverse and set aside the July 13 decision and Oct. 19 resolution of the Court of Appeals (CA), which denied a motion for reconsideration filed by union officials.

LAKAS ng Diwang Tomasino (Lakasdiwa) standard bearer Miyuki Morishita of the College of Education is the next president of the Central Student Council (CSC), beating Speech and Language Pathology major Raymond Angelo Gonzales of the Lakas Tomasino Coalition (LTC) in a hotly contested election.

But the ruling LTC won four out of six CSC posts for Academic Year 2013-2014—vice president, secretary, auditor, and public relations officer. Third party Alyansa ng Kristiyanong Lakas (Aklas), back in the campus scene after a two-year hiatus, won the post of CSC treasurer.

SIX GRADUATE programs of UST got higher ratings in an annual survey of the world’s top business schools.

Paris-based agency Eduniversal selected the top business schools from a pool of 12,000 programs—master of arts (MA), master of sciences (MS), and master of business administration (MBA)—and categorized them into 30 topics.

Only two Philippine schools made it to the top 100 master’s programs for entrepreneurship.

From 99th place in 2011, UST’s MBA in Entrepreneurship improved to 82nd spot in 2012, but still trailed behind Asian Institute of Management’s Master in Development Management, which ranked 62nd. Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Netherlands was declared the top school for its entrepreneurship and New Business Venturing program.

THE FACULTY of Engineering is now the winningest team in Pautakan history, retaining its team category title in the 36th edition of the inter-collegiate quiz contest last Feb. 18 at the Medicine Auditorium. The Faculty of Arts and Letters (Artlets) likewise kept the individual category title.

Engineering got 240 points in the team competition, followed by Artlets (205 points), and AMV-College of Accountancy (160 points).

This was Engineering’s ninth championship title after victories in 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2011 and 2012, exceeding the record of hall of fame awardee Arts and Letters, which ruled the Pautakan in 1979, 1989, 2002 to 2006, and 2009.

PRINT journalism is here to stay even in the digital age, as long as it does not insist on being the “bringer of news.”

If newspapers don’t surrender that role to social media, they will eventually fold up, said Arturo Samaniego, Jr., Manila Bulletin tech news editor, during the Manila Bulletin Campus Journalism forum last Feb. 6 at the Civil Law auditorium.

Newspapers must instead develop their own stories, come up with in-depth analysis and good opinion columns, and remain true to the basic tenets of journalism, he added.

Using social media will not only ensure media outfits’ survival, it can also increase readership.

THE UNIVERSITY dominated this year’s “off-season” licensure exams for physicians, physical therapists, and architects, yielding two Thomasian topnotchers.

Chicco Xerxes Pangan led this year’s newly registered physicians after getting a score of 86.33 percent.

Twenty-one out of 23 Thomasians made the cut, equivalent to a 91.30-percent passing rate. For the past two years, UST has maintained a 100-percent passing rate in the medicine board exams.

“We’re happy that UST maintained its standing as one of the best schools in the country,” said Faculty of Medicine and Surgery Dean Graciela Gonzaga.

HIS HOLINESS, Pope Francis, is a pontiff of many firsts. He’s the first pope from the Americas, where the Church remains a spiritual stronghold. He’s the first pope from the great but controversial Jesuit order. He’s the first to take the name Francis, after St. Francis, the humble friar from Assisi who shunned the riches of the world and founded the Order of Friars Minor.