Tag: December 15, 2015

THE UNIVERSITY has maintained its position as the educational institution with the most number of accredited programs in the country.

UST received five awards during the 26th annual general assembly and awarding ceremonies of the Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities Commission on Accreditation (Pacucoa) last Dec. 1 at the City of Dreams in Parañaque.

UST was awarded for having the highest number of Level III and Level IV accredited programs in the Philippines, and for having the highest number of accredited programs in both the National Capital Region and in the country.

The University was also cited for having the first food technology program to be granted Level IV accredited status.

THE UNIVERSITY grabbed the top spot in the recent licensure examinations for teachers (LET) both in the elementary and secondary level, with one Thomasian entering the top 10 in the elementary level.

UST was declared the top-performing school in the elementary LET after obtaining a 96.21 percent passing rate. A total of 127 passed the test out of 132 Thomasian examinees.

In the secondary level, UST posted a 94.92 percent passing rate, with 168 Thomasians making the cut out of 177.

SOON, class records and teaching modules will be available in the “cloud.”

The Educational Technology Center (EdTech) is set to upgrade to cloud services and virtual classroom technology as part of a digital transition.

EdTech Center Director Anna Cherylle Ramos said using the cloud would make it easier to store digital academic resources.

Cloud storage is a mode of digital data storage that keeps a user’s data available and accessible with the help of computer networking.

Ramos warned of the vulnerability of digital resources stored in servers inside the UST campus.

DESPITE recognition as a premiere Philippine university, UST still needs to improve its curriculum and offer niche programs to attain international standards for quality education.

Office of International Relations and Programs Director Lilian Sison said upgrades and changes in the curriculum as well as additional scholarship programs were needed to maximize opportunities for students.

“There should be something done in the curriculum for global learning so other students get exposed,” Sison said.

IN A HOUSE sitting in a maze of shanties not too far from the heart of Imus is Francisca Solmerano, the city’s “hilot” for more than five decades.

Soon she will be among local healers to be accredited by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).

The Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD) of DOST has partnered with the Philippine Institute for Traditional and Alternative Health Care (Pitahc) to launch a P100-million program that will seek to certify traditional healers in 2016.

Launched last August, the program will consist of a five-year survey and a comprehensive research on traditional medicine, with details still not specified by the organization.

A UST professor’s work in the field of taxonomy and systematics has earned him a prestigious scientific award.

Grecebio Alejandro, director of the Office of Graduate Research, was awarded the Gregorio Y. Zara Achievement Award for Basic Research for his contributions particularly in Plant Molecular Phylogenetics

Established in 1968, the Gregorio Y. Zara award is the brainchild of the family of National Scientist Gregorio Zara and the Philippine Association for the Advancement of Science and Technology (PhilAAST).

The annual award seeks to recognize the achievements of the country’s most outstanding scientists in two fields: one in the field of Basic Science Research, and another for Applied Science Research.

THIRTY percent of Filipinos are overweight and 48 percent prefer to eat the food of their choice rather than to be fit, according to the October 2015 Asia Health Index of life insurance company Sun Life Financial Asia.

The 2013 National Nutrition Survey reported that one out of three Filipino adults and adolescents were overweight, while eight out of 100 were obese.

Lifestyle obviously is a major factor.

Civil Law freshman Mia Bataller admitted to stress-eating.

“Unfortunately, I’m not one of those people that lose weight when they’re stressed. I gain weight [instead],” she said.

WHO SAYS professionalism and love for toys cannot be a good combination? Such is not the case for this Thomasian artist.

After his graduation in 2005, 33-year-old Jomike Tejido shifted from the strict conventions of architecture to the more playful art of illustration.

“I liked children’s book art because there were not much rules. Being an artist, you can do it anytime as long as you’re good at your particular niche,” he said.

Tejido is the man behind the “Jepoy Dyip” series, an interactive children’s toy book depicting the life of an animated jeepney with his vehicle friends. Inside the Jepoy Dyip book are cutouts from which children can construct dioramas of Filipino sitios.

THE RUMBLE of plastic wheels rolling across a hardwood floor was heard across the hallway and into the kitchen, followed by successive thuds—the sound of running footsteps. A toy train halted in front of the stove. Lured by the smell of steamed peanuts, Manny reached out for the lid, before a hand grabbed his forearm.

“Manny, what did I tell you about touching the stove while I’m cooking?” said his mother. Manny stepped back and tightly held the string attached to his train.

Six Thomasians have collaborated to showcase Quezon City’s spiritual and cultural heritage in a coffee table book titled “Facets of Faith.”

The 93-page book, written by Faculty of Arts and Letters (Artlets) alumnus Billy Malacura, features churches, relics, and religious artworks found in Quezon City.

Other Thomasians who contributed to the book were Artlets Assoc. Prof. Felicidad Galang-Pereña, book editor and former Varsitarian literary editor; Regalado Trota Jose, UST archivist, who wrote the book’s foreword; and Eric Zerrudo, director of the Center for Conservation of Cultural Property and Environment in the Tropics of the UST Graduate School, who served as editorial consultant.