Tag: No. 3

PEERING through the nicotine haze,

enveloping the narrow esquinita that led to my dormitory,

my eyes set on a moth hovering beside the crucifix on a door.

Heeding my mother’s words, I bowed my head and prayed

that the soul it harbored might find its way to heaven,

as it disappeared into the fading light of dusk.

I noticed that my shadow was not following me

and I felt the hair on my skin stand on end,

for as the elders warned, “he who walks with no shadow

is soon to meet his doom.”

I tried to overpower this unnerving feeling

with my fondest memories of home

then I suddenly recalled my father’s words:

IKA-12 ng Oktubre, 1999, katanghalian, Benguet

Kumakalampag sa bubong ng bus ang malalaking patak ng ulan at animo’y bubutasin iyon. Isang oras na ang lumipas nang magsimula akong sumakay mula Itogon. Batid kong halos walong barangay na ang aming nilagpasan at malayu-layo na ako sa mapanghusgang mga mata nina Kuya Konde at Kuya Apo.

“Ano na? Iiwan mo kami?” nagngingitngit at may halong pangungutiya ang tinig ni Kuya Apo nang katukin ako sa aking silid kaninang umaga. “Para ano? Para magpaka-inutil sa Maynila? Hindi ba’t ginawa na iyon ng mga magulang natin? O nasaan sila ngayon?”

NAGKAKASALA ang mortal, kaya kailangan nitong mangumpisal.

Isiniwalat ni Chuckberry Pascual sa kaniyang bagong aklat na pinamagatang Kumpisal: Mga Kuwento, na inilathala ng UST Publishing House, ang mundong iniiralan ng mga bakla.

Sa 15 kuwento, nahihiwalay ni Pascual ang kaniyang mga mambabasa sa mundong pamilyar at nagagawa itong bago—kuwento tungkol sa mga bakla na narinig sa kanto, tsismisan, paaralan—sa pamamagitan ng mahusay na paggamit at paglalaro ng wikang Filipino.

MGA HERKULES kung tawagin noon ang mga kasapi ng isang samahan sa Unibersidad na nagpapahalaga sa kalusugan at kahubugan ng pangangatawan.

Taong 1928 nang itaguyod nina Rizal de Peralta at David Unson ang UST Physical Cultural Club na naglalayong payabungin ang kultura ng pag-eehersisyo sa buong Unibersidad at palawigin ang kamalayan ng bawat mag-aaral sa kahalagahan ng kani-kanilang kalusugan.

Mismong sina Peralta at Unson ang nagtustos para sa mga kagamitang pampalakasan mula sa mga barbell, dumbbell, chest expanders hanggang sa mga boxing gloves at kagamitang pang-eskrima upang maipakilala ang boksing at eskrima sa Unibersidad.

THE UNIVERSITY reached another cultural milestone as the UST Archives’ collection of ancient baybayin scripts were declared as national cultural treasures by the National Archives of the Philippines (NAP) last Aug. 22 at the National Museum in Manila.

The baybayin scripts consist of 14 consonants and three vowels which orginated from the pre-Islamic and pre-Spanish era.

Coinciding with the 2nd Baybayin Conference, the scripts were formally recognized by NAP’s national archivist Victorino Manalo. The conference is a forum aiming to create awareness for the importance of the ancient writing system.

ONE SOLUTION to UST’s K to 12 woes will be a “foreign” one.

International students will make up for the lack of freshmen in Academic Year 2016-2017 when the K to 12 program goes in full swing.

“We are for the openness of the University as a Catholic university to admit students coming from [other countries] to form them according to our mission [and] vision,” Secretary General Fr. Winston Cabading, O.P. said in an interview with the Varsitarian.

THE SUPREME Court (SC) has denied the UST Faculty Union’s (USTFU) claim for P26 million in hospitalization and medical benefits from 1997 to 2003, saying the union’s complaint was too late and that it had misinterpreted its collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with the University.

The dispute was over whether UST’s annual contributions to USTFU hospitalization and medical benefits fund should be one-time or cumulative given annual increases in tuition.

THE UNIVERSITY failed to improve its standing in the latest Quacquarelli-Symonds (QS) world university ranking, retaining its spot in the 701+ bracket in the listing of the top 800 universities.

State-run University of the Philippines led the country’s top universities anew, improving 13 notches to 367th from last year’s 380th. Ateneo de Manila University also went up to the 461-470 bracket from the 501-550 bracket last year, while De La Salle University slid to the 651-700 bracket from the 601-650 bracket last year.

Since 2012, UST has not placed in the QS subject rankings. Ateneo, La Salle and UP failed to maintain their respective posts in English Language and Literature.

A SUMMA cum laude graduate of the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery topped the August 2014 licensure exams for physicians, a feat last achieved by a Thomasian four years ago.

Eric Royd Talavera, who graduated from UST in 2013, tied with Cebu Institute of Medicine's Raymond Martin Li for first place. Both scored 89.59 percent.

UST alumni Jessica Mae Sanchez and Lean Angelo Silverio, also summa cum laude graduates, shared the fourth spot with Mairre James Gaddi of the University of the Philippines-Manila, all of them scoring 89.25 percent.