Tag: June 25, 2013

A MANILA Trial Court has sided with the private firm operating the carpark in a financial row with UST, prompting the University administration to file an appeal to overturn what it thinks is a “glaringly erroneous” ruling.

Presiding Judge Paulino Gallegos of the Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 47 on Jan. 29 ordered defendant UST to pay Selegna Holdings Corp. P186 million representing revenue losses supposedly caused by deviations from a 15-year build-operate-transfer (BOT) contract.

“Defendant UST is hereby directed to strictly comply with the terms and conditions of the contract on the yearly escalation of the parking fee covered by the BOT,” the decision stated.

The freshman batch of 2013 got a welcome rite they would never forget, less than a week after stepping inside UST at the start of Academic Year 2013-2014.

Wearing masks, face paint and carrying their college colors, thousands of first-year students marched around the campus and passed through the Arch of the Centuries to the drumbeat of the UST Yellow Jackets last June 7.

This tradition enables freshmen to connect with UST’s 402-year-old history, Secretary General Fr. Winston Cabading, O.P. said in an interview.

Cabading said that unlike in previous years, the “Thomasian Welcome Walk” was held earlier to avoid heavy rains.

BAGONG istilo ng pagpapangkat at paraan ng pagtuturo ang ipapatupad sa mga pinakabatang Tomasino.

Simula ngayong taon, mayroon nang bagong sectioning scheme ang UST High School (USTHS) upang magkaroon ng pantay na distribusyon ang mga mag-aaral na may iba’t ibang kakayahan at pag-uugali.

Ang nakagawiang paglalagay ng cream sections o ang grupo ng mga mag-aaral na mayroong matataas na marka ay tuluyan nang bubuwagin. Sa halip ay ikakalat sila sa iba’t ibang klase.

Ayon kay Marishirl Tropicales, punong-guro ng USTHS, magiging tulong ito sa mga mayroong suliranin sa pag-aaral. Ang mga bagong sections ay magbibigay daan para sa “peer tutoring and support.”

THE COMMISSION on Higher Education (CHEd) sees the P1,500 installment fee among several miscellaneous fees imposed by the University this year as “quite high.”

But CHEd Chairperson Patricia Licuanan, in a chance interview at the CHEd Auditorium during the awarding of the Centers of Development and Excellence last June 4, admitted that private institutions need to raise funds to pay for expenses as they lack government subsidies being enjoyed by state universities and colleges.

“It’s always that balance. Private schools don’t get any subsidies, so how are they going to pay their teachers and buy their equipment?” she asked.

THE UNIVERSITY posted a slightly lower passing rate in the recent licensure exams for architects, with only one Thomasian in the top 10.

One hundred and fifty-two out of 206 Thomasian examinees passed the test last June 7 and 9, or a 73.79 passing rate, slightly lower than last year’s 75 percent wherein 201 out of 268 Thomasians made the cut.

Architecture Dean John Joseph Fernandez said UST’s performance this year was due to the changes in the format of questions.

“The reviews were based on previous examinations. But everything was changed. That is why many of the questions were new. Every reviewing center might have not touched [those questions] during the review,” Fernandez said in an interview with the Varsitarian.

CEBU Archbishop Jose Palma urged the UST faculty to reaffirm the “great value of academic freedom” without turning their backs on Catholic ideals during the opening of the academic year last June 3.

“In virtue of this freedom you are called to search for the truth wherever careful analysis of evidence leads you,” Palma quoted Pope Benedict XVI as saying, in his homily at the annual Misa de Apertura or the traditional Opening Mass at the Santisimo Rosario Parish.

THE FACULTY of Engineering will introduce a new specialization track for data analysts in 2015 to address growing demand from businesses.

The Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) and IBM Corp. (IBM) are collaborating to draw up a list of subjects for “business analytics,” which is being eyed as a new profession for high school graduates.

CHEd Chairperson Patricia Licuanan said analytics could be a new “game changer,” and an opportunity for Filipinos to prosper in the field of handling and processing data.

TWO CIVIL Law freshmen and a Psychology senior will head the Varsitarian in its 85th year.

Former Special Reports editor Lorenzo Luigi Gayya was appointed editor in chief while former Witness writer Denise Pauline Purugganan is the new associate editor. Both are Journalism graduates. Joining them in the Editorial Board is former Science and Technology editor and Psychology senior Nigel Bryant Evangelista as managing editor.

Journalism senior Reden Madrid was retained as News editor, while fellow Journalism seniors Bernadette Nicolas, Carla Patricia Perez and Elora Joselle Cangco were appointed Assistant News, Sports, and Filipino editors, respectively.

THE UNIVERSITY has yet to reopen the program for Education students wanting to major in Filipino. The College of Education is not offering the Bachelor of Secondary Education (BSE)-Filipino this academic year due to lack of students.

Of 140 Education sophomores, only 15 signed up to take BSE Filipino last year, said Roberto Ampil, head of the University-wide Filipino Department. Education students are assigned to their majors in their second year. At least 20 students should be enrolled for the major in Filipino program to push through.

Education Dean Clotilde Arcangel has tasked Ampil to encourage Education freshmen to take up BSE-Filipino.

TWO THOMASIAN alumni were among four Filipinos named in Forbes Asia magazine’s 48 Heroes of Philanthropy this year.

Forbes Asia included Felino “Jun” Palafox, Jr. and Joel Cruz on the list of the Asia-Pacific region’s “most notable givers.”

Architecture graduate Palafox, founder of internationally renowned Palafox Associates, was lauded for using his firm’s services in designing low-income housing developments.

Palafox founded his firm in 1989 and has since worked for business magnates such as Eugenio Lopez, Jr. and Enrique Zobel.

Meanwhile, Cruz, manufacturer of Aficionado Perfumes and owner of Central Affirmative Company, Inc., was acknowledged for giving donations to abandoned children, the elderly, and the disabled.