Tag: July 31, 2008

FACULTY MEMBERS finally got a much-awaited bonanza under a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with the University to last until 2011 -- with bonuses, backpay, salary adjustments and other benefits amounting to a windfall of anywhere from P100,000 to more than P280,000 for each mentor with a 24-unit load.

PEOPLE from different sectors, the religious, policy makers, and students closed ranks to uphold the sanctity of life and to protest the Reproductive Health bill pending in Congress at the UST Grandstand — among them world boxing champion Manny Pacquiao and “pro-life” politicians like Parañaque Rep. Roilo Golez and Environment Sec. Jose “Lito” Atienza.

Members of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) and Episcopal Commission on Family and Life (ECFL) said education on natural family planning and proper parenthood are the only moral alternatives that will preserve human life.

“The alternative on artificial family planning is giving education to the people on responsible parenthood,” Archbishop Teodoro Bacani told the Varsitarian. “Their (parents) responsibility is to bring children into the world but only those children whom they can raise up in human way.”

THE LEADERSHIP change in the University has brought about a fresh revamp in key administrative and academic positions, and even the creation of new offices.

In some offices directly under the new Rector, the changes involved not only new appointments, but also a structural overhaul.

Former College of Science Dean Fortunato Sevilla III will now direct research and development under two new clusters: the natural and applied sciences under Science Prof. Christina Binag and cultural, educational, and social issues under Faculty of Arts and Letters assistant professor Alvin Ang.

Meanwhile, former research and development head Marilyn Mabini was named the new assistant to the rector for planning and development.

Serving as De la Rosa’s assistant in steering the University is Fr. Pablo Tiong, O.P., the new vice-rector.

CALL IT domination.

For the record, UST once more outshone other universities in various licensure examinations last June to emerge as the top performing school in the field of nursing, architecture, and pharmacy.

Among the three licensure exams, the College of Nursing posted the most remarkable performance as 29 Thomasians entered the top ten, tying up with other schools in the third, fourth, sixth, eight, ninth, and tenth positions.

Aira Therese Javier led the new Thomasian nurses with an 86-percent rating.

UST clinched the second spot as a top performing school in the 100 and more examinees category.

Just like last year, UST registered a 98 percent passing rate with 458 Thomasians passing out of the 466 takers. This year’s national passing rate was only 42 percent.

AFTER two years in career limbo, Eudel Tan, a UST College of Nursing graduate, now has a chance to finally practice her profession.

One of the “victims” of the nursing board exams leak in 2006, Tan, who had to retake the test, still suffered from the stigma of the controversial leak when she applied for work.

“Even though I am a UST graduate, I still found it difficult to land a job then because of the leakage (controversy),” said Tan.

Last summer, she finally found a nursing job at a hospital in Saudi Arabia and left the country last May.

According to Nursing Dean Glenda Vargas, Thomasian nursing graduates experience difficulty landing a job not because of incompetence, but due to the limited number of visas available for them.

THE UST College of Education is now a Center of Excellence (COE) after undergoing the stringent evaluation of the Commission on Higher Education (Ched). It is the fifth college in the University to receive such status, next to the College of Architecture, Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, College of Nursing, and the Conservatory of Music.

The UST College of Education and the teacher-education programs of De La Salle University, Philippine Normal University, and Centro Escolar University, were granted COE status for three years effective June 2, 2008.

“Ched evaluated the College’s faculty and graduate profiles, curriculum, and the passing rate for licensure exams for the past three years. These factors were accounted for for our COE grant,” Dean Clotilde Arcangel told the Varsitarian.

Arcangel said Education exceeded the minimum 85 percent passing score. However, Ched did not disclose the exact rating.

THE UNIVERSITY has decided to scrap plans to build a 19-story tower to expand the UST Hospital and would build a low-rise structure instead, as efforts to settle liabilities and get new investors to finance the expansion push through.

The expansion has been scaled down but there are plans to build a huge medical laboratory and expand the number of hospital rooms to 800 in keeping with the institution’s character as a teaching hospital, UST Rector Rolando de la Rosa bared. This means the project will only need P1 billion at the most instead of the original P3-billion loan contracted by his predecessor.

De la Rosa said UST is still servicing P600 million in hospital debts which include professional fees, repairs, renovations, and new equipment, among others.

BAGGING the elusive gold medal has always been the aspiration of the Philippines come Olympic season. But it seems that what the country lacks for athletic prowess, it makes up for excellence in the arts.

Such was attested by Jose “Joe” Datuin, a Thomasian artist whose sculpture entry struck gold in the prestigious 2008 Olympic Sport & Art Contest organized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

“I have been joining a lot of competitions but this is the first time that I literally cried out of joy, considering its grandness,” Datuin told the Varsitarian.