Tag: July 31, 2010

THREE former instructors are accusing the University administration of “unfair labor practice” and illegal dismissal after being terminated as part of a crackdown on non-tenured faculty members without master’s degrees.

Raymund Antiola, Raymond Son, and Wilfredo Pollarco, former instructors at the College of Fine Arts and Design (CFAD), filed separate complaints against UST Rector Fr. Rolando de la Rosa, O.P., Academic Affairs chief Clarita Carillo, CFAD Dean Cynthia Loza, Regent Fr. Edgardo Alaurin, O.P., and the CFAD faculty council before the National Labor Relations Commission last July 5.

FILIPINO physical therapists who want to work in the United States will have to wait for at least a year after exam takers from Philippines, along with Egypt, India and Pakistan, were barred from the US National Physical Therapy Examination (NPTE) until 2011 due to exam “leaks.”

The suspension stemmed from the evidence of “pervasive security breaches” gathered by the Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy (FSBPT), the body that regulates the exams in the US.

“This necessary measure is in response to compelling evidence reflecting systematic and methodical sharing and distribution of ‘recalled’ questions by significant number of graduates of the program,” FSBPT said on its website.

Former union officials led by lawyer Eduardo Mariño Jr. have been ordered to return millions of pesos in “illegal” attorney’s fees obtained from salary increases granted to faculty members in 1992.
Implementing a July 7, 2009 Supreme Court decision, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) issued a writ of execution last June 16 ordering Mariño’s group to turn over P8,232,000.
The decision written by Associate Justice Minita Chico-Nazario said the Mariño group illegally obtained a 10% cut from a P42-million compensation package granted by the University in 1992, ruling that the “fee” for successfully negotiating faculty pay hikes did not come from union dues or funds of the UST Faculty Union (USTFU).

WHEN calamity strikes, text messaging may not be a reliable tool after all.

Many students were unable to receive text messages announcing the suspension of classes last July 14 at the height of typhoon “Basyang” from the Central Student Council’s (CSC) “Infoblast” project.

“There was neither electricity nor signal,” said ;Ryan Sze, public relations officer (PRO) of the CSC and project head of Infoblast.

“Basyang” tripped the north-to-south transmission backbone of National Grid Corp. of the Philippines, cutting off power supply and knocking out signals of mobile networks.

Public Affairs Director Giovanna Fontanilla was, however, able to announce the suspension of classes over radio station DZMM at 4.a.m.

THE COLLEGE of Rehabilitation Sciences (CRS) is seeking the re-accreditation of its two programs, submitting evaluation last July 15 and 16 under a private accreditation group.

The Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities Commission on Accreditation (PACUCOA examined UST’s occupational therapy and physical therapy courses which have “first level re-accredited status” and “second level re-accredited status”, respectively.

“The accreditation assures the students that the quality of programs we offer [is better] than what the Commission on Higher Education (Ched) requires,” said CRS Dean Jocelyn Agcaoili in an interview.

BAR EXAM results may be released earlier than the usual following the proposal of a former UST law dean to make the first part a multiple-choice test.

Civil Law Dean Nilo Divina said Associate Justice Roberto Abad made the proposal to better “filter out” only those capable of passing the bar exams.

“I am in favor of this measure since it screens those who have prepared well for the exam,” Divina said.

Abad’s proposal will divide the bar exam into two phases. The first part which will account for 60 percent of the exam is the multiple-choice test. It will be followed by the essay part, which rounds up the remaining 40 percent. If one does not pass the first phase, he or she will not be allowed to take the second part.

THE UST Singers are again the Choir of the World after besting 91 participants from across the globe at the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod in the United Kingdom last July 10.

The Singers are the first choral group to receive the Choir of the World Award twice. The group also took home the Pavarotti trophy named after the great Italian tenor who competed on the Eisteddfod stage in 1955.

In the Mixed Choir competition, the UST Singers placed first with 94 marks, beating groups from Indonesia, Sweden and Wales.

THE RED Cross Youth Council (RCYC) -College of Science Unit organized the first “earthquake evacuation drill” last July 15 to prepare the college for emergencies.

The drill, conducted at 7 a.m. and 4 p.m., lasted for seven minutes and 30 seconds and six minutes and 55 seconds, respectively.

“The faster the drill, the better since it would be safer for a person to evacuate the building during an earthquake,” said Gerson Contreras, RCYC-Science president.

THE STORAGE area of the Laboratory Equipment and Supplies Office (LESO) was evaluated last July 22 to check if it meets police safety requirements.

“[It’s a] test if UST conforms to Philippine National Police (PNP) standards of having a secure and safe storage facility,” said Ross Vasquez, LESO administrator.

The Explosive Fire Arm Law of the Philippines requires certificate permits for a school to buy explosive ingredients (usually nitrates and chlorides) for academic purposes. Without the permit, UST cannot buy, possess, or deal with distributors.

Out of PNP’s 58 listed nitrates, 22 are used in UST for courses such as general Chemistry and organic chemistry.

LESO regulates restricted chemicals within UST.

THE UST Central Seminary tapped the Varsitarian to give lectures for its Annual Journalism Seminar last June 24 at the Thomas Aquinas Research Complex Auditorium.

Varsitarian editor in chief Cliff Harvey Venzon gave a lecture on news writing; former Varsitarian chief editor Anthony Andrew Divinagracia and artist Carlo Patricio Franco gave a seminar on editorial and features writing and layout design, respectively, while Faculty of Arts and Letters professor Eros Atalia delivered a talk on literary writing during parallel workshops.

Former Varsitarian editor in chief National Artist F. Sionil Jose and current publications adviser Joselito Zuleta delivered speeches on writing in the Philippine contemporary setting and press ethics, respectively.