Tag: November 15, 2011

PAY AS you enroll.

Stricter enrollment policies were implemented by the University this semester— including the non-acceptance of promissory notes, a ban on the issuance of “pre-enrollment forms” to those who want to reserve slots without payment, and barring students with unpaid balances from enrolling.

In a memorandum last Oct. 7, the Office of the Vice Rector for Finance announced that promissory notes are no longer allowed starting the second semester. The notice was released in time for the release of first semester grades.

The new policy was evident during the enrollment period from Oct. 19 to Nov. 5, when posters saying “NO PROMISSORY NOTES” were displayed.

AUTHORITIES tightened security in and around the University as over 6,000 examinees trooped to the campus to take this year’s bar examinations.

The Philippine National Police (PNP), together with the explosives and ordinance, and mobile units, deployed policemen at different areas outside the University, while security personnel from the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals, National Bureau of Investigation, Police Security Protection Group, Emilio Aguinaldo College-Police Community Precinct, and UST Security Office took charge on the campus.

The Supreme Court has also banned “bar operations”—activities like putting up streamers, holding sendoffs, and forming cheering squads—on campus.

THREE Thomasians entered the Top 10 list of passers in the recent interior design licensure examination, while UST was declared second top-performing school in the certified public accountant (CPA) board exam and recovered in the electronics engineering boards.

Roanne Beth So (89.80 percent) and Catherine Almonte (89.40 percent) placed first and second, respectively, in the interior design boards, while Lesley Anne Padilla (87.35 percent) placed eighth. Last year, seven Thomasians entered the top 10 list.

Interior Design Department Chair Rodolfo Olaso said the results are “not too fulfilling” as only three Thomasians topnotched.

THE UST Publishing House was again hailed “Publisher of the Year,” while two of its books were named among the most outstanding Philippine books of 2010 at the 30th National Book Awards held at the National Museum last Nov 12.

This year’s “Publisher of the Year” award is the UST Publishing House’s third; the earlier ones were in 2003 and 2004.

The novel “Blue Angel, White Shadow” by Charlson Ong and the collection of essays “Sagad sa Bato, Hospital Diary at iba pang sanaysay” by Romulo Baquiran Jr. won in the fiction and nonfiction categories, respectively.

THE SEES of Manila and Caceres will soon be under new leaderships with the appointment of Imus Bishop Luis Antonio “Chito” Tagle as the new Archbishop of Manila and the impending retirement of Caceres Archbishop Leonardo Legaspi.

Last month, Pope Benedict XVI appointed the Jesuit-trained Tagle as the 32nd archbishop of the See of Manila, succeeding Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales who held the post for seven years.

Tagle, internationally a well-known theologian, will be the fifth Filipino to occupy the post. The Archbishop of Manila is regarded as the country’s top cleric, and as the Primate of the Philippines.

THE COLLEGE of Science has obtained Level 4 accreditation, which could mean autonomy for academic programs for the next five years.

The accreditation status, granted by the Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities’ Commission on Accreditation (Pacucoa), also authorizes the University to offer graduate programs related to the Level 4 courses of the college, as well as open learning or distance education and extension classes.

The Commission on Higher Education, however, remains as the authority in granting autonomy to a college or university.

The College of Science is the first college in UST to receive Level 4 accreditation from Pacucoa. It was also the first in the University to get Level 3 status in 2006.

A FILM on how UST students bear the crosses of their lives, made by Medicine students, was named this year’s Best Student Short Film by the Catholic Mass Media Awards (CMMA).

“Krus,” also a finalist in this year’s UST ‘Q’ Short Film Festival, features the lives of four Thomasians mixed with rituals of the Mass.

The award was given at the San Carlos Seminary Auditorium in Makati City last Oct. 19.

Joseph Angelo Kiat, one of the film’s producers, said “Krus” depicts the journey of four students in pursuit of their dreams and aspirations while “bearing their own crosses and dilemmas in life.”

MORE than a year after its bicentenary, representatives of the Republic of Chile again visited the University to discuss the country’s foreign policies at the Civil Law Auditorium last Oct. 18.

Ambassador Fernando Schimdt, Chilean undersecretary for foreign affairs, said Chile’s foreign policy is based on the promotion of international peace and progress through the establishment of friendly political and economic relations with other countries.

While Chile pursues healthy trade relations with other countries, it has never been a question of marketing, Schmidt said.

TWO THOMASIANS died in separate accidents in the last two months—one from an attempt at extreme sports and another from a heroic act.

Medicine sophomore Louie Raymond Pestaño died after his parachute malfunctioned in a skydiving lesson in Ormoc, Leyte last Oct. 20, while Commerce and Business Administration freshman Jonald Mangalindan died after saving two people from fire at his friend’s house in Parañaque last Sept. 28.

Pestaño’s body was found in the middle of a rice field a few minutes after he jumped from a Cessna plane with his skydiving instructor.

He went to Leyte to learn skydiving and was supposed to perform a 3,500-foot beginner’s jump at around 2:20 p.m., but his parachute did not open when he pulled it.