Tag: November 20, 2008

STUDENTS who enrolled a week after the official start of classes this semester were slapped a P1,000 penalty, a move administrators said was meant to “discipline” late enrollees.

The student council claimed there were no consultations, and is waiting for an official explanation.

“I was never informed. I asked the Student Organizations Coordinating Council (SOCC) if they were informed about it (penalty fee), they said they were not informed either,” Central Student Council (CSC) president Angelo Cachero said in a phone interview.

The UST Hospital has formed a team to begin phasing out of mercury, complying with an order from the Department of Health (DOH) to phase out mercury in all Philippine healthcare facilities and institutions.

The hospital’s Mercury Management Team is tasked to identify all the uses and sources of mercury, create a mercury minimization program to lessen the use of mercury-containing devices, require suppliers to disclose mercury content in their products, and remove unnecessary practices requiring the use and distribution of devices containing mercury.

NANG marinig ng Tomasinong si Marvin Nicole Leabres, nasa ikalawang taon sa kursong Behavioral Science, ang kantang “Lawlaw,” Tagalog na bersiyon ng sikat na kantang “Low” ni Flo Rida, sa radyo, isang salita lamang ang naisip niya: “Corny.”

“Parang sinira nila ang kanta at hindi pa maganda ang pagkakasalin (dahil) hindi bagay na i-translate iyon sa Tagalog,” ani Leabres.

Ang “Lawlaw” ay isa lamang sa mga kantang kabilang sa album na Hip-Rap ng Warner Music Philippines, na kalipunan ng ilang mga sikat na awitin sa Ingles na isina-Tagalog.

BILANG pinakamatandang Katolikong unibersidad sa Asya, marami nang pinagdaanang anibersaryo ang Unibersidad ng Santo Tomas. Isa sa mga ito ay ang ikapitong gintong anibersaryo nito noong 1961.

Upang ipagdiwang ang ika-350 taon ng pagkakatatag nito, naglunsad ng mga aktibidad ang bawat kolehiyo at mga organisasyon sa loob ng Unibersidad sa pamumuno ng Central Board of Students at ng faculty club na may layuning maipalakalap ang impormasyon tungkol sa nasabing anibersaryo sa publiko.

SABADO, ika-27 ng Setyembre; 6:15 pm

Kauuwi ko lang sa bahay nang masilayan ko ang isang matandang babaeng nakasuot ng magkapares na kulay-kalawang na palda’t blusa na nakatayo sa labas ng pintuan namin. Kausap siya ni Auntie Em. Kumuha na pala siya ng bagong makakatulong. Kung sabagay, hindi na rin talaga kaya ng busy naming schedule ang maglaan pa ng panahon para sa mga gawaing bahay. Pinakinggan ko na lamang ang naabutan ko sa kanilang usapan.

HER PROCLAMATION as UST’s first writer-in-residence consolidates Ophelia Dimalanta’s position as a Thomasian icon of letters.

But more than reaffirming her position in the constellation of literary stars, Dimalanta looks to her appointment as an opportunity for mentoring and guiding the young. “One of my responsibilities is to encourage young writers and to nurture the atmosphere of creative reading and writing within the campus,” she told the Varsitarian.

Dimalanta will also receive next month the Parangal Hagbong, the Varsitarian’s award for lifetime achievement in literature. The Hagbong will be the highlight of the 2008 Ustetika literary awards, the longest running and most prestigious campus literary contest in the country. It is also organized and sponsored by the Varsitarian.

AS “GUESTS” in that faraway home called the English language, Filipino poets have the great burden of having to write in a language where they may feel unwelcome. But At Home in Unhomeliness: An Anthology of Philippine Postcolonial Poetry in English (UST Publishing House, 2007) shows that Filipino writers have not only mastered English, but also built their own home there.

Featuring 82 poems from some of the countries most promising young poets in English, At Home in Unhomeliness has been released to celebrate the 50th anniversary of PEN (Poets, Playwrights, Essayists, Novelists). Founded by Thomasian man of letters and National Artist F. Sionil Jose, Philippine PEN is the local branch of the International PEN, a worldwide association of writers that upholds freedom of expression and the coming together of various cultures through literature.

I start to rejoice inside.

“F-Fred!” Rissa gasps for air as I watch her move with all her might. “I’m sorry,” she adds, her voice trailing off like the wind. And then she passes out.

Hearing her say my name in distress for the first time again in so many years feels like cymbals crashing near my ears. All of me wants to see her suffer more.

It’s that time of the year again, campus reporters and advisers converging on UST for what has arguably become an institution—Inkblots, the annual national campus journalism seminar.

It’s now on its 10th year and judging by the sheer number of participants this year, Inkblots is definitely here to stay.

So why do they keep coming?

SURVIVOR PHILIPPINES: Gripping but sadomasochistic

Students’ Choice of Reality TV Program criterion

*Despite its name, reality television is really a construction. It is a “construction” on the lives of ostensibly real people in a highly controlled setting, purportedly on a round-the-clock or 24/7 coverage. By the nature of reality TV, there is a tendency toward voyeurism which the Christian viewer must deal with critically. In some instances, characters in a reality TV show by virtue of their isolation as a result of the controlled setting they’re in are made to “naturally” gravitate toward one another, resulting in illicit or near-illicit liaisons. The Christian viewer must view these “forced” or “artificial” narratives of distorted relationships with care. If reality TV is, like any TV program, a construction, then there’s no reason it cannot be made to construct what is positive, moral, and uplifting.