Tag: September 30, 2008

EVEN trees have their “hair” done.

Called “tree pruning,” the lower branches of the trees in Benavides Park have been cut to achieve their natural form and to improve growth.

Fr. Roberto Pinto, O.P., head of the Facilities and Management Office, explained that every species of trees spread their branches toward a distinct direction, giving them their overall shape.

For instance, acacias have an umbrella-shaped top; mahoganies have branches sticking out of the trunk diagonally; narras have an elongated crown shape; and flame trees have branches slightly bowing at the end.

“When you prune trees, you have to cut them in such a way that they can achieve their forms when they grow again. You don’t just cut and cut. You have to follow the trees’ natural growth,” Pinto told the Varsitarian.

POOR REP. Edcel Lagman (Albay), principal author of the Reproductive Health Bill No. 5043 (RH Bill). While he tries to avoid having his masterpiece pigeonholed as a “population control measure,” protesting that the label is misleading since it obscures its “health-care” dimensions, he can’t control its supporters from exposing its real nature.

We are referring to the statement of the economists of the University of the Philippines that basically supports the bill.

THE UST Hospital (USTH) failed to rush to the rescue of a woman suffering from birth pangs when the public hospital ambulance she was riding in got stalled on campus last September 11.

Hospital officials said that medical protocol barred them from helping the woman.

The Ospital ng Sampaloc ambulance carrying Agnes Feliza had entered the campus because of the floods around the district when its engine konked out at around 10 p.m. in front of the St. Raymund’s Building. The ambulance was supposed to bring Feliza to the Dr. Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital in Sta. Cruz, Manila.

THE UST Publishing House is more than halfway in completing its quadricentennial project, “400 Books at 400!” after launching 20 new titles, including a book authored by a former Varsitarian editor.

Journalism professor Nestor Cuartero, a former Varsitarian managing editor, published his first book titled, “At Large, At Leisure,” a collection of feature stories he had written for the Panorama and other publications.

“I have a simple goal in writing these articles: to touch, enlighten, and maybe inspire the readers. The book is intended to be read at leisure,” Cuartero said.

Sisters Mikee, Mai-Mai, and China Cojuangco also published “Sisters Act, Mom Reacts” together with their mother Tingting, a UST alumna.