Tag: March 23, 2006

Because of its geological setting, the Philippines often experiences natural disasters. The Southern Leyte landslide last Feb. 17, which killed 150 people, displaced thousands, and buried over 900 people below nine meters of mud and soil, is just one tragic example.

Landslides include a wide range of ground movements such as rock falls and shallow debris flows. Gravity, say geologists, is the primary mover of soil, thus, landslides often occur on steep slopes. The steeper the slope, the greater the likelihood of ground instability.

THE DEPARTMENT of General Education (Gen Ed) is set to establish three sub-departments by next semester to improve the management of general education courses.

According to Gen Ed Director Dr. Nancy Eleria, the establishment of the proposed departments would reduce the micromanagement.

A UST Linguistics expert said that although the University continuously develops fields of studies where it excels, it has neglected to cultivate other disciplines like Linguistics research.

“UST is not exposed to Linguistics or even Applied Linguistics,” said Dr. Marilu Madrunio, department chair of Languages, Literature and Philosophy at the Faculty of Arts and Letters. “When you look at journals, you rarely see published works (in Linguistics) from UST.”

AN AMERICAN law professor told Faculty of Civil Law students that a lawyer should investigate to have a good assessment of the strength of a case.

“If you learn the evidence along the way, then you are in a better position to evaluate whether you have a good case or not. A good investigation is the foundation of a good prosecution,” said Prof. Laurel Beeler, who teaches Criminal Procedure at the University of California Hastings College of Law in San Francisco.

AMID uncertainty regarding its continued existence, the student general committee, the body formed by the Central Student Council to further safeguard student rights, is gearing up for its last major case before the end of the school year.

CSC president John Voltaire Almeda said he is holding talks with five students allegedly harassed by a University professor last year.

“The students are very sensitive with the case,” Almeda said. “They haven’t decided yet whether they would pursue the case because of fear.”

SOLICITOR General Alfredo Benipayo has resigned in the middle of a critical legal battle in court to justify the legality of President Macapagal-Arroyo’s controversial Proclamation No. 1017.

A former Court of Appeals justice, Manila Regional Trial court judge, and Commission on Elections chair, Benipayo reportedly quit because Malacañang was displeased on his defense of 1017 before the Supreme Court. The President accepted the irrevocable resignation of Benipayo last March 15 and appointed presidential chief legal counsel Eduardo Nachura in his stead two days later.

AS SOME lawmakers push for a change to a parliamentary system of government, a ranking Catholic Church official said during a forum on charter change that the country needs an effective and conscientious Constitution that focuses on the common good.

Caloocan City Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez said there is a strong need to reflect on the moral implications of charter change, and the moral dimensions of a Constitution.

THE FIRST psychotrauma clinic in the country plans to set up an Asian education center to chart a new cure for trauma, fears, and depression.

The UST Psychotrauma Clinic seeks to establish an Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy center, the first in the country and in Asia. The clinic has the country’s only four registered EMDR specialists.

A NUMBER of University scholars were given recognition during the first Thomasian Scholar Awards last March 12 at the Albertus Magnus Auditorium.

FORMER press undersecretary Alice Colet-Villadolid urged journalists to bear in mind the public’s right to information in their reportage during the press ethics lecture “Out of Bounds: Trespassing in Journalism,” at the Central Library Conference Hall last Mar. 7.