Tag: No. 12

LESS THAN half of examinees from the Faculty of Civil Law passed the Bar exams, as the national passing rate plunged to the second lowest in history in what was described by the dean himself as a “bloodbath.”

UST posted a 48.57-percent passing rate, with only 34 out of 70 examinees making the cut. Among the 34 who passed, 31 were first-time takers.

The national passing rate plummeted to 17.76 percent, equivalent to 949 out of 5,343 examinees, the lowest since 2000 and the second lowest passing rate in history.

THE success of a teacher is measured not by the number of articles published or awards received, but by the recognition of students of his or her ability to change their perspectives.

This was Rector Fr. Herminio Dagohoy, O.P.’s message during ceremonies honoring 107 outstanding faculty members at the 14th Dangal ng UST Awards last Feb. 7.

“Kung totoong mahusay ang isang guro, kung ang kaniyang mag-aaral ay natututong mag-isip nang malaya at lumikhang pang-unawa bunsod ng tiyaga at masusing pagpapaliwanag, ang dulo ng lahat ng ito ay pagtatagumpay,” Dagohoy said.

With the advent of technology, teachers must update themselves on the latest developments in their respective fields, he added.

UST’s Journalism program has been declared a Center of Development (COD) after a series of evaluations by the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd).

The Polytechnic University of the Philippines was also conferred the COD status, while University of the Philippines (UP) in Diliman is the lone higher education institution that obtained the Center of Excellence (COE) status in journalism.

The recognition given by CHEd last March 22 to the journalism programs of the three universities will be effective until May 2014.

RESEARCH in the academe plays a key role in the country’s development.

But universities should abolish the “publish or perish” rule and instead “protect, publish, and profit,” even with the dearth of research in the Philippines.

In the opening ceremony of University Research Week last January, Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (Ipophil) Director Carmen Peralta said research in universities “should not remain in library shelves to become mere references,” but also improve the quality of life.

“Universities are forming companies and [they are] earning from their research,” Peralta said in her keynote speech at the Civil Law auditorium. “Google is a product of University research.”

NO INFORMATION technology school yet for the next academic year.

Contrary to the announcement by Faculty of Engineering Dean Philipina Marcelo, the planned spinoff of the Department of Information and Computer Studies (ICS) has been put on hold.

Marcelo, however, stressed that the process of separating ICS from Engineering remained in progress, but was “undergoing several phases.”

“We cannot afford to spin ICS off into a new college without making sure that it will be very strong,” she said. “ICS will still be a part of the Faculty of Engineering but there will be major changes definitely, in terms of administration. But I cannot talk about it yet because, like I said, it’s not yet approved.”

THE DIOCESE of Bacolod and the Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan have shown contrasting though not necessarily conflicting approaches to the May 13 elections. While Bacolod has outrightly identified for the Catholic faithful all those who voted for and against the Reproductive Health law last year, urging Catholic voters to reject the former and accept the latter, Lingayen-Dagupan has stopped short of naming names, merely coming up with general prescriptions of what a wise and correct vote could be, with emphasis of course on the Church’s pro-life, natural-law advocacy.

UST is not—and will never be—a “diploma mill.”

The recent “solemn investitures” in the University saw 8,000 UST graduates given the send-off, ready to face the industry, or what is ponderously called the “real world.”

These graduates had labored and toiled just to get to the pinnacle of academic life—graduation.

But UST haters dismiss the chances of UST graduates since to them, UST is a second-rate school.

Diploma mill, they say.

In an online forum on the state of tertiary education in the Philippines, one user said that the dismal showing of graduates in the professional world may be traced to the incompetence of schools where they acquired their education.

GOOD intentions do not always result in better ends.

Earth Hour is one of the most popular, if not the most hyped, environment-related events. The annual occasion, organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), has been a global habit since 2008. It encourages everyone to turn off their lights for an hour to inspire the world to act against the climate change.

“I GO to seek a Great Perhaps.”

Francois Rabelais’ last words served as an important viewpoint for Miles Halter, the main protagonist in John Green’s bestselling novel Looking for Alaska. I kept asking myself on what the Great Perhaps really is, immersing myself into wishful thinking that I could somehow find a way to relate this mindset to the current state of cultural preservation in our country.

Funnily enough, I did.

ALBERT Einstein said, “Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing it is stupid.”

My brother Luke* was born healthy and perfect, but as he was growing up, it seemed that something was wrong with him. The first thing my parents noticed was his speech delay. At the age of two he would not speak and wouldn’t communicate even in a non-verbal way; he was even incapable of eye contact. His gestures include a lot of hand flapping and head banging. Whenever Luke sees a man wearing eyeglasses, he would run to him and demand to be carried (this may root from the absence of my father who was then working overseas). In short, he lived in his own little world no one could understand or penetrate.