Tag: No. 3

THOMASIANS once again joined the cry for government reform as they joined the launch of the People’s Initiative against all forms of pork barrel including the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP).

The campaign, which coincided with the celebration of National Heroes’ Day, was coined as “Stand Up! Sign Up against all forms of pork!” and was endorsed by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines and the Catholic Educators Association of the Philippines.

Organized by the #abolishporkmovement and the Scrap Pork Network, the campaign marked the first anniversary of the Million People March which was participated by Thomasians as well.

FOUR PROGRAMS of the Faculty of Arts and Letters (Artlets) have been granted the coveted Level 4 accreditation status, the highest rank that can be obtained by an educational institution from the Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities Commission on Accreditation (PACUCOA).

Economics, Legal Management, Literature, and Philosophy obtained the highest accreditation level after a two-day “survey visit” by PACUCOA accreditors last August 18 and 19.

THE CONSTRUCTION of the University’s first satellite campus in Mindanao is again on hold due to pending documents regarding the conversion of its site from an agricultural land to an institutional land.

The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) has yet to approve another permit that will allow the further development of the satellite campus in an 82-hectare land in General Santos (Gen San) City, encompassing two barangays: Ligaya and Katangawan.

DAR first approved the conversion of the land in 2003 and issued another order in 2008, extending the development period of the site until 2013.

HINDI kinilala ng Office for Student Affairs (OSA) ang Thomasian Writers Guild (TWG) at Alpha Phi Omega (APO) bilang mga opisyal na organisasyon sa Unibersidad para sa akademikong taon 2014-2015, dahil sa hindi pagdalo ng mga opisyal nito sa taunang Leadership Training Seminar (LTS).

Ayon kay Allan Hernandez, kinatawan ng OSA para sa mga organisasyon, ang pagdalo sa taunang LTS ay kailangan upang kilalanin na opisyal ang isang organisasyon. Mayroong tatlong LTS na dapat daluhan ang mga organisasyon bago kilalanin ng OSA.

“As early as February and March, we were already informing [the organizations] of the tentative schedule of the LTS, and even advised them to block their schedules for [the month of] April,” ani Hernandez sa isang panayam sa Varsitarian.

THE UNIVERSITY’S two high schools again bested other secondary schools in Manila in the National Achievement Test (NAT) taken by fourth-year students last March 5.

UST Education High School (EHS), the University’s laboratory high school, topped 18 schools in cluster three, or schools with 100-199 examinees, after posting an average score of 65.91 percent.

EHS got the highest scores in four subjects, namely: Critical Thinking (71.5%), English (79.40%), Filipino (70.25%), and Math (59.89%). It placed second and third in Araling Panlipunan (70.09%) and Science (47.03%), respectively.

EHS had a total of 108 examinees this year. Last year, EHS belonged to cluster four, or schools with 55-99 examinees.

THE GENERAL Education departments of the University are set to be transferred to different colleges from the supervision of the Office of the Vice Rector for Academic Affairs (OVRAA), adopting the organizational structure of other local as well as foreign universities.

The departments of Philosophy, English, Literature and the Humanities, History, Foreign Languages, and Social Science will be under the helm of the Faculty of Arts and Letters (Artlets), while the College of Education will absorb the Filipino department. Its offices, however, will remain at the Main Building.

SECURITY officials nabbed a 22-year-old man last Aug. 2 for allegedly stealing several gadgets and a pair of leather shoes near the open field.

The UST security office said the suspect, Mark Galvan, was brought to the Sampaloc Police Station 4 after verification with the victims and from CCTV footage. But Galvan, who had posed as a jogger, was later released after reaching a settlement with the victims.

Security records showed Galvan entered the campus on a motorcycle, telling security guards he would go to the Santisimo Rosario Parish Church. He instead went around the field looking for potential victims, like varsity players and joggers, whose bags were unattended.

Of all the reasons for the Growling Tigers’ forgettable season, the most convenient one is Segundo “Bong” Dela Cruz, the unheralded new coach.

He replaced fan favorite Pido Jarencio, who led the Tigers to the UAAP title in his rookie season and came close to regaining the championship in his last two.

Under Dela Cruz, who was picked from among the likes of Bal David, Estong Ballesteros, Siot Tanquincen and Aric del Rosario, the Tigers played like a whole new squad, one that was only good enough to beat the likes of UP and Adamson (and FEU in the first round).

THE EMERGENCE of online social networking has changed the way people look for love from a rusty vending machine, where they get to grip an easy picking process, even sexualized, that is.

New technology has given us a number of dating apps, which take the edge off the traditional face-to-face dating practice. These applications seem to have won their clientele by stitching the lives of two strangers on a faster pace and effortless matchmaking by adding a location-based feature that enables users to scour possible partners within close proximity. This system translates to “hooking up."

With most applications available for free, it is not surprising that they top the charts of Google Play and App Store.

PAANO maging Filipino sa isang globalisadong mundo?

Higit na bibilis ang ragasa ng globalisasyon sa bansa dahil sa integrasyong pang-ekonomiya ng Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) sa darating na 2015. Sa pamamagitan ng integrasyon, magkakaroon ng iisang merkado sa rehiyon na siyang magpapadali sa pagluwas at pag-angkat ng mga produkto ng bawat bansa, sa pagpapadala at pagtanggap ng mga manggagawa, sa pamumuhunan at pagpapalitan ng serbisyo at higit sa lahat, mas mapapadali ang pagkawala ng mga Filipino.

Bukod sa kakulangan sa kalidad na mga produkto na maaaring makipag-sabayan sa produkto ng mga karatig-bansa, pag-usad ng pasukan sa Setyembre at agarang pagpapatupad ng K-12, hindi pa rin handa sa globalisasyon ang mga Filipino.