Tag: May 13, 2015

TWO THOMASIANS have been tapped to lead the country's organization of physicians and nurses.

Dr. Maria Minerva Calimag, a professor from the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, was picked for a second term as president of the Philippine Medical Association (PMA) last March, while Dr. Mila Delia Llanes, an assistant professor at the College of Nursing, was elected president of the Philippine Nurses Association (PNA) last January.

On ethical drug testing

Calimag, in a press conference last December, reiterated the PMA’s stand against the clinical trial of the anti-dengue drug ActRx TriAct following health risks.

HOTTER months loom ahead as the El Niño marches its way to the country from the Pacific.

The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Association (Pagasa) warned Filipinos in its report last March of potential dry spells and drought brought by warmer winds accompanying the El Niño phenomenon.

Meteorological agencies like Pagasa monitor areas in the Tropical Pacific known as “Niño regions” where the interaction between the ocean and the atmosphere can alter the temperature of an area.

IT IS a scientific fact that man is biologically programmed to adapt with the changes in their environment. But can Thomasians withstand the drastic changes brought by the shift in academic calendar and still perform well?

People use up energy to release heat and regulate their body temperature in order to survive. We have natural responses when exposed to different levels of heat that might affect our performance.

In his book “Human Thermal Environments: The Effects of Hot, Moderate and Cold Environments on Human Health, Comfort and Performance," Environmental Ergonomics professor Ken Parsons of the Loughborough University said people have different responses to different temperatures.

“TRUTH is not decided by the majority.”

Church leaders remain firm in their stance against divorce, despite a survey showing more Filipinos are in favor of the measure.

The Social Weather Stations (SWS) released a survey last March revealing that 60 percent of adult Filipinos were in favor of legalizing divorce.

Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas called the pending divorce bill a “quick fix” to couples' incompatibilities that would provide an option for married couples to take the easy way out and separate because of “whimsical” grounds.

POPE Francis has opened the possibility of a short pontificate, two years after his election to the papacy.

In an interview last March 13 with Mexico’s Televisa, Pope Francis hinted that his term as pope would be brief. "I have the feeling that my pontificate will be brief: four or five years. It is a vague feeling I have that the Lord chose me for a short mission. I am always open to that possibility,” the Pope said.

BIBLICAL episodes and characters in the New Testament were re-defined by scholars from the Asia-Pacific region during the Joint Conference of the Catholic Biblical Association of the Philippines (CBAP) and Society for New Testament Studies (SNTS) last Feb. 28 to March 1 at the Institute of Preaching in Santo Domingo Church, Quezon City.

The conference featured 21 scholarly articles aiming to explain “unanswered questions” in some books of the New Testament, namely Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Acts.

The last cigarette has burned in my hand,

Reminding me how tonight

is no different from all other nights—

debauchery in nicotine

like there’s no tomorrow.

After the haze, it has become clear

why I felt content

in the brevity of

a single stick.

There is no point indulging

on these little rods

whose smoke I blow

for the winds to take

or inhale slowly

to corrode my lungs.

What’s the point in all of this—

when everything vanishes

into thin air?

When all that would be left

are my soot-thick lips—

and all that has touched them

is gone.

AFTER much criticism, the Carlos Palanca Foundation (CPF), which hands out the prestigious Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature (CPMA), has retracted its amendment to the contest mechanics which granted it copyright to winning pieces.

Rule No. 21 stated that the writer of a winning piece granted the Foundation “concurrent and non-exclusive right to exercise the full copyright and all other intellectual property rights” to their works, including those that had previously won in the contest.

Moreover, the rule required that the writer waive “all moral rights” over his winning pieces in favor of the Palanca.

TRISTAN made loud slurping sounds as he ate the spaghetti in front of him. “Slow down, anak. Isn’t angkong buying you stuff like this at home?” He looked up to his mom and, still with a string or two in his mouth, answered, “Not that he does not, Má. It’s just that your spaghetti’s always different.” He then twisted a cluster of spagos with his fork and devoured a third of the serving he was given in a matter of seconds. “Way better than what they give me. It’s sweet.”

SA PAGPAPAHALAGA sa wika nagmumula ang pagpapahalaga ng mga mamamayan sa kanilang pagkakakilanlan.

Ito ang naging pangunahing layunin sa likod ng paglulunsad ng WIKApedia, isang munting proyekto ng Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office (PCDSPO) sa Facebook na nagsimula noong Agosto ng nakaraang taon bilang pagdiriwang ng Buwan ng Wika at patuloy na umaani ng rekognisyon at pagtangkilik sa humigit 60,000 page likes nito.

Halaw ang pangalan ng proyekto sa pinagsamang mga salita na “wika” at “encyclopedia” sapagkat ito ay isang kalipunan ng mga aralin at paglilinaw hinggil sa wikang Filipino na nagnanais maghain ng isang lunan para sa makabuluhang diskurso.