Tag: April 24, 2002

THE VATICAN has yet to make a decision on who will be the next Rector of the Royal and Pontifical University of Santo Tomas for the next four years. Being the highest official of UST, the Pope has the authority to appoint the Rector of the University.

“Siyempre, hindi ako maaring makapagsabi (kung sino). We (administration officials) cannot divulge anything hanggang sa may dumating na confirmation from Rome,” Vice-Rector for Finance Fr. Roberto Pinto, O.P. told the Varsitarian.

RESIDENTS of the St. Raymund, San Martin de Porres buildings and the Fathers Residence will enjoy better water supply this school year.

According to Vice Rector for Finance Fr. Roberto Pinto, O.P., overhead tanks will be installed to give adequate water supply to the three areas.

Previously, the water supply of the three buildings came from cistern tanks underground. However, Fr. Pinto said that the water supply provided by National Water, and Sewerage Authority (NAWASA) is insufficient.

ANOTHER Thomasian rose to the Supreme Court as President Macapagal-Arroyo appointed her former chief of staff, Renato Corona, to the Supreme Court (SC) last April 10.

Corona occupied the seat vacated by Justice Bernardo Pardo who retired last Feb. 11.

While he was taking up his doctorate in Civil Law at the UST Graduate School (USTGS), Corona was named Most Outstanding Student for SY 2000-2001 that recognized his appointment as presidential adviser, presidential spokesman and chief of staff.

TO SPREAD the creative ferment in and out of the campus, the UST Center for Creative Writing and Studies (UST-CCWS) will conduct a seminar for Baguio City teachers on the teaching of fiction, drama and poetry on April 27.

According to UST-CCWS assistant director Joselito Zulueta, there is a need to retool teachers for them to effectively teach literature. The teachers would benefit from it because they would learn the tricks of the trade from writers who are also educators, he added.

AFTER many years of confusion during elections, the Central Student Council (CSC) Constitution has been finally amended.

The new Constitution, allows previous Central Student Council officers to run for CSC president and vice-president. Those with failures can also run as long as their failed grades were not obtained during the preceding semester.

FORMER Faculty of Arts and Letters Dean and Southeast Asian Writer of the Year Award recipient Ophelia Alcantara-Dimalanta led 18 alumni who were recognized by the University at The Outstanding Thomasian Alumni (TOTAL) Awards last March 22 at the Medicine Auditorium.

Dimalanta is one of the most influential figures in Philippine literature. Her works are considered cornerstones in the development of Philippine poetry in English. Dimalanta is the current director of the UST Center for Creative Writing and Studies.

FORMER College of Science and Faculty of Engineering dean Dr. Mariano Pangan died of stomach cancer last March 29, ending a two-month battle with the dreaded disease. He was 81.

According to Buildings and Grounds superintendent Engr. Lawrence Pangan, one of the elder Pangan’s nine children, their family only found out the professor’s condition last January.

Pangan said the family had thought it was just hernia at first, but after a surgery on the affected part, the presence of a malignant cyst was diagnosed.

COMMISSION on Elections chairman Alfredo Benipayo called for moral renewal in a lecture during the Theology Week last April 8 to 13 at the Thomas Aquinas Research Complex Auditorium.

Benipayo said that four “sins” in government—corruption, profit taking, hedonism and abusiveness or cruelty—lead to public decay. Because these sins are prevalent in society, he said the public tends to overlook these infractions and accept them as ordinary societal norms.

Let’s face it. Politics can never be ignored as long as there are positions to run and aim for. In our own country, politics cannot be abandoned. It is a country famous for its history, heroes, beaches and resorts, OFWs and “People Power” revolutions, a country where the 3 P’s are always in the driver’s seat, namely, popularity, power, and politics.

As an incoming Journalism senior, I am required to finish 200 practicum hours. I was lucky enough to be admitted in the country’s version of the Asian Wall Street Journal, the Business World. I was assigned to the regular beats, which means that I will have to check on the Philippine Sports Commission, Department of Health, Department of Tourism, and Department of Science and Technology, on my own. Looks like the word trainer does not exist there.