Tag: No. 10

WITH HONORS or with kindness?

The end of the school year has seen an uptick in honor graduates, but while the University overall has kept the numbers constant in the past five years, there is a trend in some colleges to hand out more and more medals in their yearly solemn investitures.

One professor thinks there has been a “grade inflation,” while others claim the quality of students has improved.

UNABLE to take formal education in his childhood days, Tirso Sumawang once marveled at the sight of other people able to write their names, compute their ages, or even read jeepney signboards.

“I remember an instance when I got lost in San Fernando in Pampanga because I could not read the jeepney signboard. The man I asked whether that jeepney is going to Dapdap or to Capas (Tarlac) made me ride the jeepney going to San Fernando,” Sumawang recalled in Filipino.

Four years ago, Sumawang, 32, had the opportunity to learn to read and write because of UST’s innovative distance learning program which held classes among Aetas via two-way radio.

FOOD ESTABLISHMENTS around the University claimed that the rice crisis threatens to kill their business, but experts say the crisis is artificial. Owners of frequently visited canteens outside the campus plan to increase prices of rice servings. However, they said that the charges would still be affordable for students.

But economics professor Emmanuel Lopez, the head of the Department of Social Sciences of the Faculty of Arts and Letters, said the food shortage is caused by panic-buying and other factors that have nothing to do with food supply and sufficiency.

Almer’s Canteen owner Nene David and Fire Up the Grill Food House attendant Sonny Ubac said they would increase their rice servings by one peso.

Also, Teodora Bernardo, Lopez Canteen owner, said that their eatery will be increasing the costs of their meal servings.

RESEARCH is an integral part of the University.

This is what acting Rector Rev. Fr. Rolando de la Rosa, O.P. stressed in his message during the Research/Creative Works and International Publication Awards last March 13 at the Thomas Aquinas Research Complex auditorium.

“In international universities, if you are a researcher, you are highly regarded. Sadly, there are over 2,600 faculty members in UST and yet few are only interested in research. This low volume of research output may reflect the actual interest of the University to engage in research,” De la Rosa said.

However, De la Rosa, who spearheaded plans for the construction of the research complex when he was rector in 1991, underscored the University’s commitment to foster a better research environment in the Dominican-run institution.

NINE UST Industrial Engineering (IE) professors were inducted to the first batch of Professional Industrial Engineers (PIE) in the country by the Certification Board of the Philippine Institute of Industrial Engineers (PIIE) last March 8 at the Mandarin Hotel, Makati City.

UST professors Charmina Bautista, Charlie Marquez, Consuelo Meneses, Donell Reyes, new Letran-Calamba College of Engineering dean Delfin Jacob, IE department chair and former Varsitarian editor Carlos Lugay, assistant to the Rector for research and development Marilyn Mabini, executive assistant of the office of planning and development Joehanna Ngo, and social research center director Nancy Eleria successfully met the required achievement points to earn Level 2 or the PIE certification.

Like a board examination, the certification is recognized by the Professional Regulations Commission (PRC) but is independently conducted by the PIIE.

A HARMLESS prank or “terrorizing” to the extreme?

For pointing an unloaded gun to students during a summer music camp last year, the conductor of the UST Symphony Orchestra has been “de-loaded,” and will get a smaller number of teaching units starting June.

The complainants – three Music seniors – however, are crying foul because the original sanction imposed by the faculty council of the Conservatory of Music on Prof. Herminigildo Ranera was suspension, and have appealed to the Rector to restore the earlier decision.

In a letter to Vice Rector Fr. Clarence Marquez, O.P., last February 5, members of the faculty council led by Dean Raul Sunico and Regent Fr. Jose Ma. Tinoko, O.P. said they had decided to resolve the case by “rescinding our initial recommendation for suspension and instead impose the sanctions of deloading which will take effect during the First Semester of Academic Year 2008-2009.”

STARTING this year, applicants who have passed the UST Entrance Test (USTET) but failed to enter their preferred courses due to limited slots have the option of studying at Letran in Intramuros instead.

The Colegio de San Juan de Letran, the second oldest Dominican educational institution in the country, has decided to accept USTET passers to boost enrolment considering only one out of four applicants make it to UST.

In an interview with the Varsitarian, UST Admissions Office head Lucila Bance said that from the 40,000 UST applicants every year, only 10,000 are admitted to the University.

“There will be applicants who will really fail to get a slot in their preferred program because of cut-off scores,” Bance said. “Instead of leaving (the applicants) out, we just recommend Letran. After all, Letran is our sister school.”

BEWARE, students who cut, copy, and paste from the Internet.

To help professors catch students lifting text from the Web for school requirements such as essays and term papers, the Educational Technology (EdTech) Center has installed an anti-plagiarism software in line with its expansion program.

In an interview with the Varsitarian, Dinah Briones, EdTech assistant director for productions and applications, said the “Safe Assign” software has been incorporated into the Blackboard software of the center’s e-Leap or e-Learning Access Program system to keep dishonest students from lifting copyrighted work and using them as material for paper requirements.

Once a student submits a project through the Blackboard, the plagiarized sentences will be highlighted, along with corresponding URL (Uniform Resource Locator) of the website where they came from.

A PROFESSOR from the College of Education was honored by the Government of Canada and the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) last March 18 during the 43rd SEAMEO Council Conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Prof. Allan de Guzman received the SEAMEO-Jasper Research Award for his study titled “Creating Space for Legitimate Participation of Youth in Education for Sustainability (ES) through Service Learning: Toward a ‘Liberatory Praxis’ for Pedagogy of Sustainability (PS)”.