Tag: October 23, 2014

THE COLLEGE of Architecture has adopted a new “student-centered” teaching system with the full implementation of an “Outcomes-Based Education” (OBE) curriculum this semester.

Architecture Dean John Joseph Fernandez said the OBE curriculum would be focused on the teaching strategies of professors, rather than the subjects, to facilitate students’ learning.

“With OBE, we aim to explain to the students the things that they did wrong and make them fully understand,” Fernandez said in an interview.

In UST, Architecture students are required to submit three plates for their design subjects.

Last September 20, ready-to-wear retail giant Bench mounted its biennial denim and underwear fashion show, “The Naked Truth,” at the Mall of Asia Arena. Entertainment celebrities walked down the ramp wearing only their undergarments, a scene which earned applause and awe from thousands in the hall and tens of thousands in the virtual world.

People had been flocking to what amounted to a soft-porn carnival for several years now, but it was only this year when a hue and cry was raised. What caught the attention of feminist groups was actor Coco Martin emerging on stage as a circus ring master pulling a female acrobat looking like a circus animal on a leash. Netizens said they were “disgusted” and women’s rights activists said the scene demeaned women.

THOUGH ManilArt never fails to enthrall with its annual stint, it is quite a depressing sight to see how the audience it consistently draws is the same brood of quintessential art enthusiasts.

The crowd has never diversified. There were the heftily-priced artworks displayed—having the participation of more than two dozens of local art galleries and a multitude of prized Filipino artists—in lieu of the mellow music and complimentary comestibles.

How likely, can we presume, that these factors intimidate the mid-class level to attend events alike?

Research from the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) showed an impending “big one”–an earthquake of at least 7.2 magnitude from the West Valley Fault that could devastate Metro Manila.

Renato Solidum, Ph.D., the director of PHIVOLCS, said about 31,000 deaths, 14,000 to 385,000 injured, and at least P2.6 million of economic losses are at stake should the earthquake hit an unprepared Metro Manila.

“We are not saying that the next earthquake from the fault will be [magnitude] 7.2,” Solidum said. “We are saying that the fault is capable of releasing an earthquake of that strength.”

FROM spiders to heights to ghouls and goblins, science deconstructed fear as a mixture of chemicals designed to ensure our survival.

However, fear maybe just a tip of a psychological iceberg. It stems from a need to help the human body respond to dangerous situations.

Rosalito De Guzman, M.D., a professor from the College of Science, explained that aside from being a natural occurrence, fear also helps a person detect threats.

Referred to as the “fight or flight reaction,” fear is provoked by threats that urge a person to decide whether or not they should “fight” the fearful situation or “flee” from it.

UNDER a pink blanket, “Mary” seemed like just another patient shivering from the breeze coming out of the air-conditioning unit in the corridors of the University of Santo Tomas Doctors' Clinic.

Wheelchair-bound and smiling, Mary had bright eyes that had no trace of the disease that was out to get her life. She has been having a hard time moving her limbs for the past two years.

Raymond Rosales, M.D., a specialist on nerve-muscle movement disorders, diagnosed Mary with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

Chances are, Rosales said, Mary may eventually succumb to total paralysis. With no cure for the disease, Rosales said about four percent of ALS patients undergoing treatment barely make it past a decade.

STEADFAST faith is much stronger than the rain.

Unwavering faith and devotion characterized the active participation of devotees despite inclement weather during the celebration of the La Naval de Manila feast at the Santo Domingo Church in Quezon City last Oct.12.

Heavy rains fell hours before the 4 p.m. procession but thousands of devotees continued to assemble in the church, expressing their desire to honor Our Lady of La Naval.

Despite the ankle-deep flood caused by the heavy outpour, Rynah Magbitang, a fourth-year entrepreneurship student from Angelicum College of Quezon City, said she was ready to stay for the procession which had strengthened her faith through the years.

LINGAYEN, PANGASINAN – In line with the Church’s call for a new evangelization, the media office of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has launched the official website for Pope Francis’ apostolic visit in 2015.

The website, papalvisit.ph, features six panels: “Pope Francis,” “The Visit,” “News,” “Messages,” “Resources,” and “Links.”

In his message on papalvisit.ph, Pasig Bishop Mylo Hubert Vergara, chairman of the CBCP-Episcopal Commission on Social Communications, said Filipinos can learn about the teachings of Pope Francis through social media interaction, as a form of reflection and prayer.

PERSECUTED Christians in Iraq and Syria were hailed as “modern-day martyrs” in the annual UST Martyrs’ Week at the Faculty of Sacred Theology last September 22 to 26.

With the theme “Called to Serve, Heroes of Faith,” Martyrs’ Week honored Christians in Iraq and Syria who were killed by the extremist Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

In his homily during the opening mass, Secretary General Fr. Winston Cabading, O.P., said martyrdom had become inevitable, with Christians being persecuted in various places around the world.

“We see all over the media Christians being crucified and tortured simply because they were born and raised under the Catholic faith,” Cabading said.

For the many talented writers birthed by the university, winning a Palanca award means the affirmation of their position as writers accepted into the elitist circle of literary giants the readers of this country look up to. In the case of Literature sophomore Harvey Castillo, winning his first Palanca meant two things: another Thomasian to be recognized in the country’s most prestigious literary barometer, and a personal record to keep as one of the youngest Thomasians to bag a Palanca Award.

The boy among titans