Tag: June 18, 2012

A HEALTHY lifestyle is still one of the best memory supplements.

Maximizing the capacity of one’s memory might seem hard to do, but psychologists said sharpening the brain’s information storage system is not always complicated.

Ma. Claudette Agnes, chairperson of the Psychology Department of the College of Science, pointed to a healthy diet, particularly of fish and vegetables. The Omega-3 in fish, in particular, helps bridge the gap between the neurons in the brain causing a person to think clearly, she said.

Like eating vegetables, regular reading helps keep the mind active, said Naomi Rosales, a guidance counselor at the Faculty of Engineering.

FROM counting numbers to preaching the Word, Fr. Herminio Dagohoy, O.P. has taken on a whole new task, Herculean in every sense, as rector of the largest Catholic university in the world.

Dagohoy, who replaced Fr. Rolando de la Rosa, O.P. last June 4, is a certified public accountant (CPA) who graduated from Polytechnic University of the Philippines in 1985.

So it was rather a leap of faith for him when he decided to become a priest and enter the Order of Preachers on May 10, 1988. At the same time, he did not exactly turn his back on his CPA career.

WHEN Pinky Tobiano set up Qualibet testing laboratories in 2006, all she wanted was to put up a business. But when she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer a few years later, it became a matter of survival—and a life-changing cause.

Tobiano, who earned her chemistry degree from UST in 1993, saw to it that products containing carcinogens and other harmful substances would not be made available in the Philippine market.

Her laboratories now screen products of big companies such as food and beverage giants San Miguel Corporation and Universal Robina Corporation.

IN CELEBRATION of 400 years of Catholic education in the country, the president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) issued a pastoral letter reminding Catholic schools to “go, make disciples, baptize, and teach.”

“Without doubt, Catholic education in the Philippines has a long and rich history. It is not an exaggeration to say that Catholic education has the foundations of education in our country,” said Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma, CBCP president.

However, Palma noted that the postmodern age is marked by growing secularization, which, he said, threatens the evangelizing mission of the Church.

DID THE butler really do it?

It’s the stuff of Dan Brown novels – the Pope’s butler was arrested by Vatican police last May 23 for stealing confidential documents, including letters and memoranda addressed to the Holy See.

Paolo Gabriele, Pope Benedict XVI’s butler of six years, was the surprise casualty of the Vatican’s lingering problem of leaks of confidential documents, now referred to as “Vatileaks.”

This came as journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi published a book titled “Your Holiness: The Secret Papers of Benedict XVI,” containing documents from a supposed group “whistle-blowers” composed of Vatican employees.

MARKING the 20th anniversary of the Second Plenary Council of the Philippines (PCP II), Catholic charismatic groups discussed ways to renew the Church during their 6th annual convention last May 31 to June 2 at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay.

With the theme, “Renewed Church on the Move,” around 4,000 participants from different dioceses vowed to help achieve growth in faith and in numbers.

Msgr. Sabino “Jun” Vengco, a theology professor, told delegates the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) gave two Church hierarchical structures—institutional and charismatic—which should serve as guides for the renewal of the Church.

RENOWNED sculptor Ramon Orlina’s brilliance shines through in his classy and elegant glass and crystal exhibit at the Powerplant Mall in Makati from June 12 to 24.

Titled Brilliance, the one-man exhibit is a tribute to the celebration of the Philippine Independence, featuring 32 dazzling pieces made of his signature green Asahi glass, alongside a new set of crystal pieces in hues of green, amber, and azure.

Orlina said the exhibit was dubbed “brilliance” because of his use of multi-colored crystal in his glass abstractions.

“As an artist, you have to develop, you have to keep on moving and elevating yourself to higher art,” he said.

OVER 70 visual artists rendered their own interpretation of the word kalayaan or freedom as they marked the 114th anniversary of the Philippine Independence in the exhibit titled Looking for Juan Outdoor Banner Project 2012 at the Vargas Museum of the University of the Philippines-Diliman from June 13 to 30.

The annual exhibit, organized by the Center for Art, New Ventures, and Sustainable Development (CANVAS), set up tarpaulin banner reproductions of the artworks in display around the Academic Oval of the university and the BenCab Museum in Baguio City.

IN SCIENCE, the word “gen” means to produce and is often affixed to words connoting the generation of a new breed. That is why the J. Elizalde Navarro National Workshop in Criticism on the Arts and Humanities gained the moniker Jen (much similar to how you pronounce “gen”) as it likewise produces year after year a new breed of critics.

Now on its fourth year, the Jen Workshop focused the spotlight on 12 aspiring critics of various art forms such as literature, music, and visual arts as esteemed scholars not only critiqued their works but also gave out helpful insights. The intensive one-week workshop was held last May 28 to June 1 at the Colione Bed and Breakfast in Baguio City.

“WAKE up. Wake up, your majesty!”

It was the familiar voice she heard every morning, when the day was just announcing the crack of dawn. The tone was soft and tender, but hearing it for the past 18 years of her life, Sofia had grown irritated to the noise that disturbed her from slumber. The silk cloth of her bed hung loosely over her lily-white legs and she felt like demanding for a couple more hours of sleep—a couple more minutes would do. But she was never the one to have that kind of privilege, not for someone who had a role to play.

She sat up right and Theresa came in with the tray of the same jam and bread she ate every morning, the same orange juice and the same tea.