Tag: Vol. LXXXV

A FEW months back, I learned of the Korean term “jung.”

“It is the connection between two people that cannot be severed, even when love turns to hate. You still have those old feelings for them; you cannot ever completely shake them loose of you. You will always have tenderness in your heart for them.” —P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han.

The Varsitarian is my jung.

They say joining the ‘V’ is like having a boyfriend or a girlfriend—for it is demanding and attention-seeking.

The ‘V’ demands full time and attention from its staffers, much like a lover who would seek undivided commitment and would nag you and demand your attention.

THE UNIVERSITY remains the biggest producer of licensed professionals in the country, with a total 15,863 Thomasians hurdling board examinations out of 18,835 examinees in the past five years, or an overall passing rate of 84.22 percent. UST also produced 296 board exam topnotchers from 2009 to 2013.

Science courses led by the Nursing program recorded the highest passing rates, results of a study by the Varsitarian, using data from the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC), showed.

From 2009 to 2013, Nursing was the University’s top-performing program based on licensure exam results, with a total of 2,250 successful examinees out of 2,264, or an overall passing rate of 99.17 percent.

THE COMMISSION on Higher Education (CHEd) has extended for another year the recognition of Centers of Excellence (COE) and Centers of Development (COD), giving the designated programs more time to implement their projects.

Existing COEs and CODs will be recognized until May 31, 2015 instead of May 31 this year, according to a CHEd memorandum dated April 28. The extension will also allow more time for CHEd to start processing the applications for the next round of COEs and CODs.

THE UNIVERSITY has established the Department of Foreign Languages to handle all foreign language courses on campus, as part of “internationalization” efforts.

The new office will be the third language-centered general education department in UST, after the Department of English and Department of Filipino. It will offer subjects such as Spanish, French, Nippongo, German, and Korean, among others.

“We cannot afford to know, to speak, and to learn one language only with the trend that we are having now in globalization,” Cornelio Bascara, chairman of the new department, said in an interview.

“The keywords in the vision and mission of the University are internationalization and globalization,” he added.

Law Dean Nilo Divina has denied any impropriety in his law firm's handling of two cases involving the United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB) where he is a director, amid accusations of conflict of interest by two groups.

The National Coalition of Filipino Consumers and the group Coco Levy Funds Ibalik sa Amin last month asked Divina to resign from either one of his posts in UCPB, and for President Benigno Aquino III to sack the bank's board of directors for allowing the Divina Law Offices to act as external counsel for the bank.

The umbrella group of student organizations has again held a “convention” in choosing its new set of officers.

Under the new selection process of the Students’ Organizations Coordinating Council (SOCC) introduced last year, nine officers will be chosen by 18 board members from among themselves. The board is composed of presidents or vice presidents of the different organizations, three of whom must be from University-wide organizations.

The chosen officers, however, will not be assigned specific positions until a campaign is held. Another election will be held to determine the officers’ positions, where the candidate with the highest number of votes will become president, and so on.

One in three College of Architecture sophomores will not be admitted next academic year due to a more rigid retention policy.

A total of 175 out of 539 students, or 32.47 percent, failed to meet the higher cut-off grade average of 2.109.

Last year, 180 out of 540 students were debarred at a cut-off grade of 2.271.

Architecture Dean John Joseph Fernandez said the stricter cut-off grade was based on a quota of eight sections and students’ academic performance.

“This year, it seems that students performed very well which resulted in a higher cut-off grade," he said.

He added: "This batch is also very competitive since only a few students have deficiencies,” Fernandez said in an interview with the Varsitarian.

FIVE UST engineers have joined an elite registry that allows members to practice within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The title “ASEAN Engineer” was given to industrial engineers Joehanna Ngo, director of the University’s Quality Management Office; Juanito Chan, chair of the Faculty of Engineering’s Industrial Engineering Department; Prof. Nancy Eleria; and Prof. Marilyn Mabini, former dean of Engineering. Civil engineer Dolores Cleopas of the Faculty of Engineering rounded out the list.

They were inducted to the ASEAN Engineering Register during an international conference of Southeast Asian engineers in Jakarta, Indonesia late last year.

The University now has six ASEAN Engineers.

To help students get financial assistance and land in-demand jobs, the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) has updated its list of priority courses for academic years 2014-2015 up to 2017-2018.

THE INTERNATIONAL Korfball Federation (IKF) tied up with UST to host the first nationwide korfball conference at the Quadricentennial Pavilion from May 15 to 17.

Dubbed “2014 Korfball: Sport for All," the conference promoted korfball as an alternative sport in Philippine academic institutions. UST is the only school that offers korfball as a physical education course.

The three-day event was attended by nearly 100 participants, including physical education teachers, sports leaders, administrators, and students from different schools.