Tag: July 16, 2010

AFTER being suspended for a year, Teatro Tomasino is back on the official list among recognized University-wide student organizations, recently staging a comeback at the freshmen recruitment line.

What stemmed from an off-campus activity last year has brought a lesson to the more than three-decade-old theatre guild and other student organizations.

The suspension was triggered by non-compliance with rules set by the Office of Student Affairs (OSA) and aggravated by the suicide of a member during an activity at Fernandina Suites in Cubao, Quezon City in 2009.

This incident prompted the Office of the Secretary General to issue a circular last May 2009, banning student activities outside the campus.

Rector Fr. Rolando de la Rosa, O.P. has tapped the Faculty of Arts and Letters to lead what he contemplates to be a university-wide English proficiency campaign. He has drafted Artlets to the experiment, arguing that students from the faculty should be the most articulate in the University.

RESIDING just a few blocks away from the campus, I was one of few, privileged people who, on their way to school, absorb vehicles’ gas emissions and ‘fresh-from-the mouth’ cigarette smoke for breakfast, with a bonus soot scent on my hair and uniform, even before my first class.

With the recent memorandum issued by Manila City Mayor Alfredo Lim, banning the sale of tobacco products within 100-meter radius from all schools in Manila, I had hopes that I would not witness the same scenario outside the walls of the University, at least for my last 10 months of stay here in this so-called smoke-free campus.

THE HOLLYWOOD bug tells the tale of girls in junior high donning their cheerleading uniforms, worshipping the hoop stars of the school’s varsity team, and using their flirtatious wink to catch the attention of the most sought after sports icons in the campus.

Pride – (n.) a feeling of self-respect and personal worth

IT FEELS good whenever I get praised for the photos I shoot, despite the fact that I’ve never had any professional training. These pats on the back have made me trust my “natural” capabilities as a photographer. They made me proud of myself somehow.

This pride made me hesitate in attending “Unleashed,” the Digital Photographer Philippines’ fourth anniversary party. But soliciting advice from a friend, who told me that talents should be honed to perfection, I decided to attend the seminar, which was considered as the most anticipated photography event of the year, last July 3.

WE JUST concluded Recruitment 101, an activity sponsored by the Student Organizations Coordinating Council (SOCC) and the Office for Student Affairs (OSA) last June 25 . It was an exciting and fun-filled four-day event participated in by 27 university-wide student organizations, including the Varsitarian and the Domnet Youth Group, an organization of students from Dominican schools.

Religious, socio-civic, sports and wellness, technical, arts and culture, and cause-oriented organizations participated in the event.

CIGARETTE dealers within the vicinity of UST must comply with stricter rules, following the issuance of a memorandum banning the sale of tobacco products outside schools in Manila.

Citing Republic Act 9211 or the Tobacco Control Law passed in 2003, the Civil Service Commission has issued (CSC) Memorandum No. 17 requiring city officials to prohibit the sale of tobacco products within 100 meter radius of schools in Manila. Cigarette packs were confiscated from convenience stores such as Ministop and 7 Eleven in Dapitan last July 18. The memo, however, was implemented only in stationary stores and not on street vendors.

Health experts who agreed with the implementation, however, also saw lapses in the provisions contained in the ordinance.

WILL THERE be another “Great Flood”?

Almost a year after tropical storm ‘Ondoy’ turned the University into a swamp, some Thomasians are worried that the recent elevation of España Boulevard would worsen flooding inside the campus.

Government and University officials, however were quick to assure that the road projects last summer would actually ease flooding.

To ease España Boulevard’s recurring flood, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has increased the height of España and streets from P. Campa up to Extremadura by six inches last March.

Maximo Carpio, an engineer from the DPWH, said the purpose of the elevation is to allow vehicles to pass, even during flooding.

THOMASIAN visual artists set the agenda for the new administration through Pitong Salita: Paalala sa Bagong Administrasyon, an exhibit at the Sining Kamalig of the Gateway Mall in Quezon City last June 7 to 30.

Dominique Alfonso, Kevin Fernandez, Luis Hernandez, Darylle Cajucom, Jay Jamoralin, JR Urao, and Michael Zacari showcased their visual flair to depict social and political concerns that should preoccupy the new administration of President Benigno Aquino III. Enrico Manlapaz was the curator.

UST College of Fine Arts and Design graduates Jamoralin and Fernandez employed comic styles and rich symbolisms to portray social and political ills in the Philippines.

ANDRES Barrioquinto signals a shift in his trademark portraiture in Squalor of the Mind, running at the West Gallery on West Avenue, QC until July 17.

From cartoonish, nearly gothic close-ups of people, Barrioquinto’s portraits have become lifelike, almost photographic. And from the usual browns and neutral colors, the color palette has become more diverse, even bright and pulsating.

Which should not mean that the gothic mood has been discarded. The collection still reeks of dark pessimism. Although his art has become more photographic, Barrioquinto’s style remains expressionistic, his graphic and pictorial strengths serving to serve the ends of psychological depictions of alienation and estrangement.