Tag: June 25, 2013

THE UNIVERSITY is back in the international debating scene after getting a spot in the United Asian Debating Championship (UADC) last month.

The Thomasian Debaters’ Council (TDC) emerged as the 11th best debating team in Asia after three students from UST advanced to the octo-finals round of the tournament, held last May 22-30 at Ateneo de Manila.

More than 80 teams participated in the largest inter-varsity parliamentary tournament in Asia, but only 16 teams made it to the octo-finals in the Open Break Category after eight rounds of successive eliminations, including Team UST 1 which was represented by TDC.

LAST June 13, barely on the second week of the school year, heavy rains resulted in a flash flood, stranding more than 2,000 Thomasians on campus. It was the beginning of the very familiar UST flood season, it seems.

Less than a week later on June 17, the flood was duplicated, caused by tropical storm “Emong.”

University administrators have been more prepared this time in declaring class suspension and securing the safety of students. This year’s academic calendar has even been adjusted in anticipation of weather disturbances and class disruptiions.

MAYBE it’s just hard to accept the truth.

It may have been the first thing that came to the minds of many when Francis Tolentino, chief of the Metro Manila Development Authority, reacted to an excerpt from Dan Brown’s new novel Inferno, describing Manila as the “gates of hell” through one of the book’s characters.

According to reports, the Da Vinci Code author said that the Philippine capital was full of horror, poverty and dark depression, with supporting details include “six-hour traffic jams, suffocating pollution [and] horrifying sex trade.”

Tolentino was quick to defend the city, writing a letter to Brown to say that the region serves as the “center of Filipino spirit, faith and hope.”

WILL this season of typhoons be a replay of tragic episodes of the past?

It is undeniable that until now, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa)—the agency responsible for flood and typhoon warnings and other astronomical and climatological information—still lacks high-end equipment needed in providing accurate weather forecasts for Filipinos who are gravely affected by the drastic effects of flooding and landslides.

LITERARY critic and theorist Northtrop Frye has said, “The most technologically efficient machine that man has ever invented is the book.”

True enough, books have become a big part of our lives. The feeling of picking up a fresh copy, one’s fingers ruffling the pages and one’s nose smelling the fresh print of ink on paper brings a sense of giddy happiness to a reader.

But the emergence of electronic books, or e-books, seems to have put traditional books in the backburner in favor of tablets and smartphones.

It seems that technology is slowly replacing print media. Everywhere I turn I see someone holding an iPad or a Kindle, reading today’s latest bestsellers.

WILL K to 12 boost Filipino graduates’ marketability?

President Aquino signed last May 15 the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013, the law mandatory to the K to 12 program, extending basic education to 12 years.

Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) Commissioner Cynthia Bautista said the new law will somehow “level” Filipino students with students in other countries. Filipino students usually fall short in terms of competency due to lack of education, she said.

“Filipinos will get jobs in Asia but they will be vulnerable to sub-optimal conditions because they lack two years,” said Bautista.

The additional two years will allow Filipino graduates to continue their studies abroad, she added.

SOME sectors of the economy are not reaping the fruits of recent growth in gross domestic product (GDP).

The Philippines grew by 7.8 percent in the first quarter of the year, the highest under President’s Aquino’s term and exceeding economists’ expectations.

But analysts are not yet giving P-Noy the thumbs up.

Alvin Ang, UST economics professor and president of the Philippine Economic Society, said not everybody gained from economic growth, and adding that not all sectors grew at the same time.

“With agriculture that has seasonal employment, for example, workers have the tendency to be idle during non-planting season but can be productive by seeking alternative jobs instead,” Ang said in an interview.

ILUMINADA Coronel is 82 but for this Franciscan sister, age indeed is just a number.

Since 1977, she has been heading the prestigious Mathematics Teachers Association of the Philippines (MTAP), believing that her teaching is her "scholarly mission."

”I am guided by the principle that the development of people is part of evangelization," she told the Varsitarian.

Coronel earned her degree in Mathematics magna cum laude at UST in 1952. She later took her master’s degree at Ateneo de Manila University where she taught until her retirement in 1991.

A GOLD-COLORED “passport” and a ceremonial walk under the historic Arch of the Centuries—welcome to college life, UST-style.

Beginning a new chapter in one's student life at UST can be more memorable with a couple of ceremonial gestures freshmen look forward at the start of the academic year.

“Rituals are important. They are very meaningful to the lives of people. They symbolize something deeper. These are external signs of values of attitudes that we have, and these rituals symbolize our character and our identity,” said Evelyn Songco, assistant to the rector for student affairs.

Thomasian Journey Passport

YOUNG Thomasian evangelists are on the rise.

Thomasians had the most number of delegates out of 9,600 students, pastors and professionals in Ignite 2013, a three-day national conference organized by LifeBox Philippines—Every Nation Asia, a Christian youth organization, last May 29 to 31 at the Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay City.

Registration data showed that around 500 Thomasians attended the event and almost 1,500 Thomasians are now part of LifeBox.

Challenge to the youth

This year’s Ignite focused on challenging the youth to be “used” for God’s purpose. The gathering happens every two years.