Tag: Vol. LXXIX

FATHER Rolando V. de la Rosa, O.P. is set to return to the scene of his greatest personal and professional achievement—the rectorship of UST. But even before he became rector during his first stint in the position in 1990, he had already been an “achiever,” according to Fr. Virgilio Ojoy, OP, a former UST vice rector who was De la Rosa’s companion during his days as a Dominican seminarian and as a postgraduate student in Louvain, Belgium.

During their philosophical studies at the Dominican House of Studies (DHS) and their theological studies in UST, De la Rosa passed his exams with flying colors and collected honors replete with the usual arcane but high-sounding Latin phrases (magna cum laude in theology and summa cum laude in Master’s in Higher Religious Studies).

“His brilliant scholastic achievements prefigured his rise as rector of Asia’s oldest higher education institution,” Ojoy said.

WHILE controversies are staples in the histories of institutions everywhere, the University of Santo Tomas went through a rocky ten months last year. Controversies involving top UST officials and, at the national level, corruption charges versus government officials grabbed the attention of the Thomasian community.

But there were high points, such as sterling performances in the board exams and sports victories that will also make academic year 2007-2008 a memorable one.

Radical changes

SIR BERNARD Crick, the British thinker who dismissed ideology as a fossilizing guide to political action, graced the first chapter of his In Defense of Politics with the line: “Boredom with established truths is a great enemy of free men.”

He then proceeds: “So there is some excuse in troubled times not to be clever and inventive in redefining things, or to pretend to academic unconcern or scientific detachment, but simply to try to make some old platitudes pregnant.”

IF SANTA Claus traded-in his red jumpsuit for a pair of tiger ears and moved to España, what Christmas requests would he have received from the UST sporting community?

In celebration of the holidays, the Varsitarian conducted a survey among several Thomasian athletes to get a general idea on their wishes this Yuletide season.

While simple gifts such as an iPod or the newest gaming console would suffice for many, some of the athlete’s wishes reflected their personality as well as the problems they encounter within the University.

“I wish that students will have access to use the elevators in the St. Raymund’s building,” said Commerce student Ralph Julius Mallari, who is also a member of the Yellow Jackets. The St. Raymund’s building houses the College of Commerce in the upper floors and the Faculty of Arts and Letters in the lower levels.

IF SANTA Claus traded-in his red jumpsuit for a pair of tiger ears and moved to España, what Christmas requests would he have received from the UST sporting community?

In celebration of the holidays, the Varsitarian conducted a survey among several Thomasian athletes to get a general idea on their wishes this Yuletide season.

While simple gifts such as an iPod or the newest gaming console would suffice for many, some of the athlete’s wishes reflected their personality as well as the problems they encounter within the University.

“I wish that students will have access to use the elevators in the St. Raymund’s building,” said Commerce student Ralph Julius Mallari, who is also a member of the Yellow Jackets. The St. Raymund’s building houses the College of Commerce in the upper floors and the Faculty of Arts and Letters in the lower levels.

BEHIND every UAAP victory is a pack of alumni in the background, providing unqualified support.

This was the ideal that led a group of former UST students to organize a fundraising cocktail for the UST Growling Tigers last December 15 at the Ricco Renzo Art Gallery in Makati.

The event, dubbed “One for the Tigers,” will be followed by many projects aimed at boosting alumni support for UST’s sports program, members of the group told the Varsitarian.

The group, called “Thomasian Alumni Support” (TAS), wants to rouse the alumni community, TAS member Joel San Juan said.

“One of our first projects is to rally support for the basketball team,” said San Juan, a journalism graduate.

The group wants to become a formal organization by June next year to pursue other projects, such as extending alumni support not only to basketball but to other sports as well.

THE LONG and tiring run-up to Season 71 starts here.

Looking for a stamping block to vent the ire on after a botched UAAP campaign this season, the UST Growling Tigers, for a while, appeared to have found one. But not until a familiar league rival and an unheralded foe stepped in to burst the Tigers’ championship bubble in the 2007 National Collegiate Champion’s League (NCCL).

The Tigers, who fell short of claiming a back-to-back UAAP title, opened their NCCL bid with a pair of victories against top-notch NCAA teams in the classification round but ran smack into Season 70 tormentor Ateneo de Manila University in the semifinals before dropping an 81-87 overtime loss to the National Athletic Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities (NAASCU) champions, the STI Olympians, in the battle for third place last November 28 at The Arena in San Juan.

THE UST Male Tennisters finally broke their pre-season jinx at the expense of UAAP rival De La Salle University as they swept their way into the Inter-Collegiate title of the 2007 PCA Open tennis championship.

In a rematch between last year’s finalists, the España-based tennisters whipped La Salle, 3-0, to capture the men’s team diadem last November 11 at the PCA covered courts. In contrast, the Lady Tennisters bowed to their La Salle counterparts and settled for another bridesmaid finish.

Buoyed by their 10-5 shellacking of La Salle in the first set, the Season 69 champions pressed on the attack further as the hard-hitting tandem of Ryan Repunte and Kean Barraquias ruled the second set to virtually seal the deal for the Male Tennisters.

Rifling fiery volleys and well-placed shots, the Taft-based tennisters jumped out of the gates early on for a 2-5 advantage. But UST hardly stuttered, taking six straight games to take a comfortable 8-5 lead.

USED to polishing their stripes in local and international jousts, the black-gold-and-white army found little or no trouble in conquering the region’s sporting horizon as they lit up the Philippines’ medal chart once more in the 24th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games held last December 6 to 16 at Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand.

Twenty-nine Thomasian hopefuls, bannered by 2008 Beijing Olympics qualifier Tshomlee Go, world bowling champion Biboy Rivera, lady poolshark Rubilen Amit, and UAAP MVP Jervy Cruz, took part in 13 out of 44 events, where the country plucked 41 golds, 91 silvers, and 96 bronzes to cap the 11-nation biennial sports spectacle at sixth place in the overall medal standings.

The Thomasian athletes locked horns with the neighboring countries’ finest crop in athletics, badminton, baseball, basketball, billiards, bowling, football, fencing, judo, softball, table tennis, taekwondo, and wushu.

REDEEMING itself after a disastrous semifinal exit, the UST High School girl’s volleyball team trounced the University of the East, 25-10, 20-25, 25-19, to clinch third place in the juniors division of the 6th Toribio Cup last December 9 at the UE gymnasium.

“Win or lose, after this campaign, we will do our best in the UAAP,” coach Francis Vicente said. “I would like to see the fruits of our labor at the end of the season.”

UST ripped the game wide-open early in the first set, taking an insurmountable 12-4 start against the seemingly intractable UE crew.

But the Recto-based squad was not to be denied, extending the match to a winner-take-all third set after surging ahead by six, 10-16 midway into the second set. Then it was an all-UST affair from there on.