Tag: July 12, 2011

AN ONLINE course designed to teach the fundamentals of religious education began last July 4.

The Certificate on Religious Education Distance-learning Online (Credo) a 21-unit and two-semester long certification program is a share of the Institute of Religion in the Simbahayan project. It is also the University’s way to respond to the need of the people to be evangelized.

“Through the Simbahayan, we’ll be able to reach the grassroots level, where our catechists visit different provinces,” said Religion professor May Erika Bolaños, who is also one of the online instructors.

FROM white, to gray, to white again.

After 40 years, the Faculty of Engineering has come to realize that the traditional white-colored uniform is more “professional-looking” for its students.

Just in time for the opening of the new academic year, Engineering changed its gray-and-black female uniform to white, similar to what students in the faculty wore in the 1970s.

In a referendum last January, 85 percent of students from the faculty voted to change the uniform.

FOR THE third consecutive year, both secondary schools in the University land on the top 10 list of Manila schools with the highest scores in the National Career Assessment Examination (NCAE).

The UST Education High School and UST High School took the second and sixth places, respectively, with the former improving its standing from third place last year.

“We [in the Education High School] were not disappointed because we placed second [in the NCAE]. But we were really hoping that this year, we will place first,” said newly appointed principal Loreto Sauz. “We are glad that we were able to maintain our rank for three consecutive years.”

TO MARK the 60th anniversary of Pope Benedict XVI’s ordination to priesthood, Thomasians and parishioners in Sampaloc offered prayers in a 60-hour Eucharistic adoration from June 29 to July 1 at the Santisimo Rosario Parish.

Around 5,600 students taking Theology classes participated in the adoration dubbed “Days of Prayer.”

Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales called on parishes, shrines, chaplaincies, and communities of religious congregations in the Archdiocese in Manila to hold 60 hours of adoration before the Blessed Sacrament upon the Vatican’s request.

LAZY, vindictive, deceitful.

President Aquino II assumed the presidency last year amid euphoria and much promise only for him to dash the same expectations because of his lack of vision and lethargic leadership. A year later, the nation is listless, aimless, and rudderless.

No wonder his satisfactory rating in the recent Social Weather Stations survey had dropped; the general public, whom he called “boss” in his inauguration last year, did not feel the benefits of his service. From a rating of +51 last March, his satisfactory rate slid to +46. Apparently, the people lost their excitement over the man who promised to take the Philippines to the “straight path” towards progress and development.

BRITISH philosopher Edmund Burke once said, “Those who don’t know their history are destined to repeat it.” True enough, the vicious cycle of the University being transformed into a swamp during the rainy season happens so regularly that we Thomasians have become accustomed to it.

Marine life once again thrived in the University’s grounds as tropical storm “Falcon” turned Sampaloc district into a giant catch basin.

BEWARE, UST is watching you.

After installing closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras all over the campus’ street corners last year, the University opens the academic year by placing another ‘set of eyes’ inside each buildings’ classrooms and hallways.

Just in time for the installment, the Management Association of Security and School Officials (Masso) proposed last May that CCTV cameras should be in the ‘strategic areas’ of each university or college to heighten up the security for the students. Masso president Eduardo Masangcay believed that students will “now think twice about doing anything bad or illegal if there are CCTV cameras.” Also, the cameras will have the tendency to lessen kidnapping and burglar attempts.

PRESIDENT Aquino III has been holding the highest post in the country for a year now. And as of this writing, he is about to deliver his second State of the Nation Address. It is time for Filipinos to ponder if he has really been an effective leader, or just a jester masquerading as a politician of some sort.

I must admit that I almost fell for the bandwagon of yellow presidency last year. Being the naïve first-time voter that I was, I almost believed the political rhetoric most of the candidates uttered in their campaign, but thanks to several factors, I have been forced to scrutinize his performance and I have eventually shifted into a different political color.

THE MEMORANDUM issued by Secretary General Fr. Florentino Bolo Jr., O.P. regarding the approval of a new University seal has agitated some Thomasians.

Honestly, I don’t find the bold colors and the masculine font of the newly approved UST seal fitting for the University’s conservative image, compared to the design of the former logo, which embodies the qualities we uphold—simplicity, elegance, purity, and all that. But it’s not the design of the logo, or the lack of “consultation from the student body” that garnered a solid “tsk” from me.

IF IT’S about “choice”, why is there coercion?

Aside from criticisms that the Reproductive Health (RH) bill is unconstitutional, experts say it will make undue demands on health professionals.

Section 28 of House Bill No. 4244 states that it respects “the conscientious objection of a healthcare service provider based on one’s ethical or religious beliefs.”

However, the same clause also requires physicians to refer patients demanding “emergency” RH services to other doctors, or face penalties.

For former Sen. Aquilino Pimentel, Jr., this provision of the RH bill forces health practitioners to do indirectly what their consciences forbid them to do directly.