Tag: April 29, 2006

PRESIDENT Macapagal-Arroyo’s Black Saturday decision to commute death sentences to life imprisonment caught the ire of different anti-crime groups even as it earned praises from pro-life forces.

Some said the President’s decision showed that her government lacked the political will in curbing heinous crimes to build a strong republic. Some even argued that she abused her discretion, making her act unconstitutional.

GOVERNMENT offices and agencies are most of the time overrated, in the sense that we expect them to perform at a level not humanly possible because of the sheer weight of the workload.

I am neither condemning any official nor unduly praising any office, giving them any excuse to slack off. But any person who has anything to say about how government should be run should perhaps try to get employed in a government agency. Even if only for a point.

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UST RECTOR Fr. Tamerlane Lana, O.P. led the Thomasian community in laying the markers and blessing the University’s 40-hectare Sta. Rosa campus last April 19. Through the new campus, UST, Asia’s oldest University, hopes to make a “global impact” in time for its quadricentennial in 2011, the Rector said.

Rolando de los Reyes II, said he used to be a promiscuous homosexual, frequented gay clubs, and randomly texted anybody for “eyeball meetings”, he searched for partners in malls. He used to see life as a cycle of short-lived relationships and disappointments. But he got fed up.

“For a while I felt loved, but I did not feel really happy,” De los Reyes told the Varsitarian. He was battling emptiness and depression that even the Singles for Christ (SFC) community, where he was a member, couldn’t fully address.

FILIPINO Catholics need not spend for expensive airfare to visit the grave of the late Pope John Paul II in St. Peter’s Basilica or his residence in Poland. They only need to drive a few kilometers from Manila and spend 10 pesos to pay him tribute.

IT WAS two o’clock in the afternoon and about 106O Fahrenheit outside when Doctors Abigail Buncan, Luzcielo Roxas and Bernard Baluga exited the Armed Forces of the Philippines Reserve Command (AFPRESCOM) building with the rest of the medical mission team. Sweat trickled down their foreheads as they boarded a bus which would take them to Orani, Bataan. While summer could mean lounging in an airconditioned office or better yet, a grand vacation, these doctors are out on a mission, one of many humanitarian efforts to extend help to the country’s underprivileged.

BIHIRANG mapagsama ang relihiyon at medisina. Dahil sa usapin ng pananampalataya at agham, laging magkasalungat sa mga bagay-bagay ang relihiyon at medisina. Gayunpaman, isang Tomasino ang nagawang pagbuklurin ang dalawang magkaibang pag-aaral—si Dr. Jose Ma. Delgado.

Bagaman malayo sa napiling karera, pinangunahan ni Delgado ang Philippine Lay Delegation sa 35th International Eucharistic Congress na ginanap sa Barcelona, Spain noong 1953. Hindi naglaon, itinalaga noong 1957 ng dating Pangulong Carlos Garcia si Delgado bilang Philippine Ambassador sa Vatican.

DUE TO the increased number of robbery cases and the recent death of two Thomasians, the University Belt Area (U-Belt) Police Community Precinct and UST is forming a security force to ensure the safety of students, commercial establishments, and residents in the area.

WITH the expectations of the University and its mission-vision statements in mind, professors take on the task of mentoring and forming students. However, most are also mindful that their work is, more often than not, Herculean, what with standards that must be maintained, or surpassed if a promotion is desired. Even the title “professor” is technically inapplicable to all teaching personnel. Like in a corporate ladder, everybody must start at the bottom. “A faculty member cannot be promoted if he or she lacks competence in teaching”, Dr.

THE RECENT brutal deaths of two Thomasians in the hands of street criminals have increased public awareness of the precarious public safety around the University and have made Thomasians think twice before walking alone the streets surrounding the campus.

As UST enters another school year, the killings of Nursing sophomore Jef Marty Longyapon last Oct. 14 on A.H. Lacson Ave., and more recently, College of Rehabilitation Sciences (CRS) sophomore Randall Von Antolin on P. Noval Street, have yet to be resolved.